Usanewsonline.com desk: Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Dariel Herrera and Zandrae Ennis have been indicted and arraigned on murder and attempted murder charges, respectively, in the deadly exchange of  gunfire that killed a 19-year-old Springfield Gardens man.  

District Attorney Katz said: “The only way to describe this incident is to say that it was as mindless  and reckless as it was tragic. These arrests and indictments send the message that law enforcement will not  put up with this kind of dangerous lawlessness.”  

Herrera, 30, of Hale Avenue, in Brooklyn, was arraigned yesterday on an indictment charging him  with murder in the second degree, attempted murder in the second degree, two counts of criminal possession  of a weapon in the second degree and assault in the second degree. Justice Holder ordered Herrera to return  to court on February 3. If convicted, Herrera faces 25 years-to-life in prison. 

Ennis, 22, of 205th Street, St. Albans, Queens, was arraigned Thursday on an indictment charging  him with attempted murder in the second degree, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the  second degree and reckless endangerment in the first degree. Justice Holder ordered Ennis to return to court  on February 8. If convicted, Ennis faces 25 years in prison. 

According to the charges, on August 7, at approximately 6:00 p.m., Herrera was driving a BMW he  had rented two days earlier when he encountered four individuals, including 19-year-old Tysheem  McDonald, near the intersection of 148th Avenue and 231st Street in Brookville. The defendant allegedly  pointed a pistol and fired several shots at the men, striking two of them, including McDonald, who was  struck in the chest and later died at a nearby hospital. Another victim was struck in in the leg. 

The other two men, including Ennis, drove away on 231st Street in a Honda. From inside the car,  Ennis pointed a pistol and fired several shots at Herrera, according to the complaint. 

VCE Homicide Assistant Thomas Rooney of the District Attorney’s Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Jonathan Sennett,  Bureau Chief and Michelle Goldstein, Senior Deputy Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of  Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Gerard Brave. Criminal complaints and indictments are accusations. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven  guilty.  

(Press Release )