QUEENS (PIX11) — A man was sentenced to 19 years in prison Friday in the death of a teacher shot as he walked his dog in Queens, District Attorney Melinda Katz said.
Ike Ford pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the shooting death of George Rosa. Ford was targeting a rival gang member, but missed and shot Rosa in the abdomen instead, Katz said. He was 17 at the time of the July 2020 shooting, but he was sentenced as an adult.
“The entire city grieved the senseless death of beloved social studies teacher George Rosa, who was simply walking his dog,” Katz said. “It’s precisely to prevent tragedies such as this that we fight so hard to get illegal guns and the criminals who use them off our streets. We will not surrender our streets to reckless violence and illegal guns.”
Rosa, 53, was shot on July 25, 2020 near 40th Avenue and 21st Street, officials said. He died a month later.
Police arrested Ford on Aug. 25, 2020. He was then arrested again in August of 2021 in a sweep targeting alleged gang members. At the time of his second arrest, officials said he faced up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
