Brighton Beach Boardwalk Shooter Convicted, Faces 125 Years To Life

Iloune Driver, one of two suspected gunmen behind the 2011 Brighton Beach boardwalk shooting that left 16-year-old Tysha Jones dead, has been found guilty and faces 125 years to life behind bars.

Driver, 21, was convicted yesterday for his role in the June 9, 2011, melee, which broke out after two rival gangbangers from the Bloods and Crips exchanged heated words, then opened fire on a boardwalk crowded with teens and beachgoers on the hottest day of the year.

Driver is a former Crips member, and the New York Post reports that he has nine prior busts for gun, drug and robbery charges. He has been convicted on four counts of assault in addition to the second-degree murder charge. Sentencing will take place next month, and he will face 25 years to life for the count of murder, and 25 years for each assault.

None of the five people struck by bullets were believed to be involved in the incident.

“My baby can rest in peace now,” Tysha Jones’ 51-year-old mother, Cynthia, told the Post.

During the trial, Driver’s attorney argued that video  filmed in the immediate aftermath of the shooting provides evidence that flies in the face of the witnesses’ statements that Driver fired from the beach. The video, he said, shows him on the boardwalk, scrambling for cover.

The jury disagreed.