Suffolk County D.A.: Mastic man sentenced to 25 years to life for fatally shooting his longtime friend
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced on June 16 that James Brown, 45, of Mastic, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of Murder in the Second Degree and other related charges, for fatally shooting his longtime friend, Umar Elquhir, 45, of Mastic, in November 2023.
“Violent rage has been met with severe consequence,” said District Attorney Tierney. “A life sentence is the only appropriate sentence for a criminal with a prior violent conviction, who has once again used a gun and has now killed. The public must be protected from such danger.”
The evidence at trial established that on November 7, 2023, at approximately 9:27 p.m., Suffolk County Police received multiple 911 calls reporting that a male was on the ground and possibly shot in the Poospatuck Reservation in Mastic. Once police arrived at the scene, they saw the victim unresponsive and with multiple gunshot wounds laying on the ground next to a home where Brown resided. The victim was transported to Long Island Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
During their investigation, law enforcement obtained video surveillance from a smoke shop across the street from Brown’s home which revealed that Brown and the victim had a physical altercation earlier in the evening.
The victim left the area but returned approximately two hours later and parked outside of Brown’s home. When Brown came out of the home, he walked toward the victim’s car while repeatedly yelling, “You wanna die?” before firing approximately nine shots into the vehicle. Multiple bullets hit the victim, who was seated in the driver’s seat. Brown then walked away and went inside his home, and the victim got out of his vehicle and collapsed onto the ground. The jury rejected Brown’s claim at the trial that he was acting in self-defense when he shot the unarmed Elquhir.
On May 9, 2025, Brown was convicted of one count of Murder in the Second Degree, a Class A felony, and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, Class C felonies, after a jury trial heard before Supreme Court Justice John B. Collins.
Brown was previously convicted in February 2012 of Assault in the First Degree (Loaded Weapon) for which he served five years imprisonment.
On June 16, 2025, James Brown was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. He was represented by Jason Russo, Esq.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Eric S. Aboulafia of the Homicide Bureau, and the investigation was conducted by Detective T. Michael Palumbo and retired Detective Brendan O’Hara of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Homicide Squad.
