Law & Order actor, Isaiah Stokes, 41, is charged with murder for 'shooting man 10 times in a daylight execution after argument over a woman in NYC'
- Isaiah Stokes, 41, was arrested and charged Friday over the February 7 slaying of Tyrone Jones, 37, in Forest Hills, Queens
- Police said Jones was shot multiple times in the face and head while he sat in a white rented Jeep near the corner of Linden Blvd. and 200th St. in St. Albans
- Jones was pronounced dead at the scene and 10 shell casings were found
- Police sources said footage of his execution was posted on social media
- Jones and Stokes are said to have gotten into a fight four months before the murder in a Long Island City nightclub
- His death comes amid a surge in gun violence in the Big Apple in recent months, with shootings up 29% so far in 2021An actor who starred in the TV series Law & Order and Power has been charged with murder after allegedly shooting a man 10 times in a daylight execution in New York City following an argument over a woman.
Isaiah Stokes, 41, was arrested and charged Friday over the February 7 slaying of Tyrone Jones, 37, in Forest Hills, Queens.
Police said Jones was shot multiple times in the face and head while he sat in a white rented Jeep near the corner of Linden Blvd and 200th St in St. Albans.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, while law enforcement sources said footage of his execution quickly started circulating on social media.
His death comes amid a surge in gun violence in the Big Apple in recent months, with shootings up 29 percent so far in 2021 and fears mounting that the city is headed back to the dark days of the '70s and '80s when it earned the nickname 'Fear City'.
An actor who starred in Law & Order and Power has been indicted for murder after allegedly shooting a man 10 times in a daylight execution in New York City following an argument over a woman. Isaiah Stokes during the Power Season 5 premiere in NYC in 2018
Stokes, 41, (left at STARZ Madison Square Garden Power Season 6 Red Carpet Premiere) was arrested and charged Friday over the February 7 slaying of Tyrone Jones, 37, (right) in Forest Hills, Queens
A police source told New York Daily News that Stokes and Jones had gotten into a fight four months before the shooting at Jones' birthday party in a nightclub in Long Island City in October.
The fight broke out when Stokes allegedly hit on Jones' girlfriend, the source said.
Four months later, police said Jones was waiting to meet a woman in the rented Jeep around a mile from his home when he was ambushed by a gunman.
Jones was shot almost a dozen times and police recovered 10 shell casings from a 9mm weapon at the scene.
Prosecutors said surveillance footage shows Stokes walk past the driver's side window of the Jeep before doubling back, gunning down his victim and fleeing the scene.
The suspect was then captured on separate footage getting into a rented Audi, they said.
The net closed in on Stokes when police then tracked that vehicle to a parking spot near his home, they said.
Stokes was taken into custody Friday morning at his apartment in Forest Hills before being arraigned later that day on three charges of second degree murder and weapons possession.
The scene of the shooting on February 7 slaying in Forest Hills, Queens, which comes amid a surge in gun crime in NYC
Police said Jones was shot multiple times in the face and head while he sat in a white rented Jeep (pictured) near the corner of Linden Blvd. and 200th St. in St. Albans
He is scheduled to next appear in court Monday.
If convicted of murder, he faces up to life in prison.
Police said Stokes has several prior arrests for drugs and has ties to gangs.
Stokes, from Queens, has starred in several TV shows, according to his IMDB page.
He played Mozzy in the TV series Power in 2019 and had parts in Boardwalk Empire in 2011 and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2009.
He also records music under the name I$AIAH, according to IMBD.
The shooting comes amid an escalating crime wave in New York City, with gun violence surging and attacks on the city's subway systems and in the streets becoming increasingly common.
NYPD data shows that shootings have spiked 28.9 percent in 2021 compared to last year as of July 11, with 803 incidents compared to 623 in 2020.
Shooting victims are also up a staggering 22.2 percent year over year, with 931 people falling victim to gun crime compared to 623 by this time last year.
Stokes plays character Mozzy in season 6 episode 7 of the popular Starz TV series Power
Stokes (in Power in 2019) also had parts in Boardwalk Empire and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
A police source said Stokes and Jones had gotten into a fight four months before the shooting at Jones' birthday party in a nightclub in Long Island City in October. Stokes is pictured at the 'Power Book III: Raising Kanan' New York Premiere on July 15 (one day before his arrest)
Stokes (left) in an undated photo from his Facebook. The suspect was allegedly caught on surveillance footage gunning down his victim and fleeing the scene
The number of murders has also risen from 215 to 225 in the same timeframe - a 4.7 percent rise.
Rape has surged 7.3 percent and other sex crimes 25.9 percent.
The biggest leap in crime rates is for hate crimes, which has surged by 118.2 percent in the last year.
This data comes amid numerous random attacks on Asian Americans in the city, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With violent incidents surging, fears are mounting that the city is headed back to the dark days of the 70s and 80s when crime was rife.
Back then, NYC earned the nickname as 'Fear City' due to its prevalence of crime an disorder.
In the 1970s, the city faced $10 billion in debt and funds were cut to the police and other services.
The dark days continued into the 1980s when the crack epidemic ravaged the city.
All types of crime were up and, at its peak, someone was murdered every 63 hours in the worst-hit parts including East New York and Cypress Hill.
Eric Adams, the ex-cop who is the Democratic candidate for New York City mayor, warned on Wednesday that 'no one is going to come back' if violence, and in particular gun violence in the Big Apple continues.
The Brooklyn borough president appeared at an event with Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday as the two political leaders presented a united front in addressing the worrying rising crime.
'No one is going to come back to our multibillion-dollar tourism industry if 3-year-olds are being shot in Times Square,' Adams said.
Adams, 60, won the Democratic primary for this year's mayoral race and will become the mayor of New York if he defeats Republican Curtis Sliwa in the general election.
He ripped New York judges and bail reform laws for not doing their part to combat the rising crime rates.
He also said judges are not using tools they do have at their disposal like Kendra's Law which lets courts order mental health treatment in some cases.
NYPD data shows crime in the Big Apple has surged so far in 2021 compared to the same period in 2020
'Our judges are not giving bail on cases where they are allowed to give bail. They're refusing to use Kendra's Law on mental health issues,' Adams said.
'We have thrown up our hands, and we have surrendered our city. It's time for us to ensure our city is for the working class, everyday people who are following the laws and saying that government is going to make sure we protect them.'
Cuomo described gun violence as a 'major civil rights issue' while announcing the state will offer 4,000 summer jobs and full-time jobs with training for the city's youth in the hopes of providing an 'alternative' to gun violence, the Daily News reported.
Those efforts come after de Blasio already unveiled 75,000 jobs for city youth this summer, as noted by the Daily News.
Cuomo admitted back in May that New York City is now in the throes of a 'major problem.'
'New Yorkers don't feel safe and they don't feel safe because the crime rate is up,' he said.
'It's not that they are being neurotic or overly sensitive - they are right.'
Eric Adams (pictured on July 12 at the White House), the ex-cop who is the Democratic candidate for New York City mayor, warned on Wednesday that 'no one is going to come back' if violence, and in particular gun violence in the Big Apple continues
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