New York Post

JUSTICE A LONG TIME COMING

Bust in 2012 Midtown execution

- By JAMIE SCHRAM, REBECCA ROSENBERG, TINA MOORE and CHRIS PEREZ

Cops have finally busted the getaway driver in the Midtown execution of a law student who was stalked and gunned down in broad daylight on a busy street three years ago, authoritie­s said Wednesday.

But police still have not identified the shooter — and don’t appear any closer to catching him.

Lloyd McKenzie, 37, was charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon forr the shooting death of Brandonn Woodard on Dec. 10, 2012, att West 58th Street and Seventhh Avenue near Carnegie Hall, according to police.

He was held without bail afterr his arraignmen­t in Manhattann Supreme Court.

Five other suspects in Woodard’s hometown of Los Angeles were also slapped with drugconspi­racy charges related to the 31yearold’s murder, lawenforce­ment sources said.

Surveillan­ce footage shows a lone gunman pumping a single bullet into the back of Woodard’s head as the victim checks his cellphone.

Moments later, the killer gets into a Lincoln MKZ sedan to make his escape.

Cops said McKenzie had his own gun as he waited behind the wheel.

Investigat­ors connected McKenzie to Woodard’s murder shortly after the murder, when they spotted the getaway car on surveillan­ce footage going through a toll plaza.

McKenzie wasn’t arrested until this week because the case was stalled until recently because the investigat­ion played out in New York and LA with uncooperat­ive witnesses.

“It took a lot of time and manpower to gather the evidence that was needed to pull the trigger on the arrest,” a source said, adding that for “a long time,” cops failed to get pertinent informatio­n from a confidenti­al informant.

McKenzie’s lawyer, Jason Russo, told The Post that he considers the case circumstan­tial, at best.

Woodard is believed to have been lured by McKenzie to the Big Apple from LA to discuss details of a coasttocoa­st cocaine operation.

The law student and club promoter had been working as a drug courier for some South Jamaica dealers, the sources said.

He was ultimately killed by his associates after a large sum of money he was carrying went missing, according to police.

Woodard was just one day away from a lawschool semester final at the University of West Los Angeles, where he was a secondyear student.

 ??  ?? CUT DOWN: Brandond Woodard (right) was executed in broad daylight near Carnegie Hall, as The Post reported. Cops have arrested the suspected getaway driver, but the gunman is at large.
CUT DOWN: Brandond Woodard (right) was executed in broad daylight near Carnegie Hall, as The Post reported. Cops have arrested the suspected getaway driver, but the gunman is at large.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States