Jury Selection Begins in Brooklyn Double Murder Trial

By LOGAN WILBER & JESSICA MARQUEZ

Jury selection began Thursday in the case against a Brooklyn gang member accused of killing two people in 2014 in what appeared to be a revenge killing spree after the shooting death of his brother.

Clayton Gravenhise, a member of street gang Hood Starz was charged for the murders of Beverly Turner, 18, and Jahzeph Crooks, 19, who he mistakenly believed were connected to his brother’s death.

Gravenhise appeared in court wearing blue slacks, and grey shirt under a grey sweater vest. He faced several charges including two counts of murder and six counts of possession of a weapon in the second degree.

The case was being tried by Assistant District Attorney Bernarda Villalona, who told prospective jurors she expected to rest her case by Monday, March 13^th.

Villalona also said she expected to call a total of 25 witnesses to the stand, including three civilians and 22 law enforcement agents.

During jury selection, Gravenhise sat quietly and looked around the courtroom, possibly for familiar faces.

The alleged retaliation killings were for the shooting of Gravenhise’s brother Nathaniel, who was killed on July 3^rd, 2014.

Turner was found on the ground with numerous gunshot wounds, after officers responded to shots fired near Quincy Street and Marcy Avenue in Bedford Stuyvesant. The July 13^th shooting came days after the shooting death of Nathaniel Gravenhise.

The Bronx woman was rushed to Kings County Hospital where she later died of her wounds. Turner was apparently the cousin of the man Gravenhise thought killed his brother.

Jahzeph Crooks was killed several weeks later on August 29^th when Gravenhise and another man shot several rounds into the Brooklyn liquor where Crooks was. Crooks and a bystander, were both struck and rushed to the hospital. The bystander made a recovery but Crooks died a week later.

The defendant thought Crooks was the brother of the supposed killer.

Gravenhise was a starting player for the Erasmus Hall High football team.