Member of Brooklyn Street Gang, Cypress Gansta Crips, Sentenced to 30 Years’ Imprisonment for Murder of a Bloods-Affiliated Rival

Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Tyvon Bannister, also known as “Turtle,” a member of the Crips-affiliated Cypress Gangsta Crips (CGC) street gang, was sentenced by United States District Judge Brian M. Cogan to 30 years’ imprisonment following his conviction for the July 8, 2014 murder of Rayvon Henreques.  Bannister pleaded guilty in May 2018.

Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and James P. O’Neill, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the sentence.

“With today’s sentence, Bannister will spend decades in prison for callously ending the life of a 26-year-old man simply because he was associated with a rival gang,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue.  “This Office will continue working tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to make our community safe by eradicating these destructive street gangs and holding their violent members accountable.”

“The primary mission of the NYPD and our law enforcement partners is to arrest, prosecute, and send away with a meaningful prison sentence anyone who instills fear in New Yorkers through their criminal actions. With this sentence today, the result of our efforts are tangible. I thank our colleagues at the Eastern District and the FBI for their unceasing professionalism and dedicated work in removing from our streets those who commit crime and disorder, especially when it’s in the form of gang violence,” stated NYPD Commissioner O’Neill.

Bannister is a member of the CGC, which is comprised of individuals residing in and around the Cypress Hills Houses (“Cypress”), a large New York City Housing Authority complex in East New York, Brooklyn.  Cypress has been plagued by gang and drug-related violence arising largely from a long-standing feud between the CGC and a local Bloods-affiliated gang.  On July 8, 2014, Bannister and another gang member shot and killed Henriques in front of a nightclub in East New York.  Henriques was targeted because of his association with the Bloods-affiliated gang.     

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Organized Crime and Gangs Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Margaret E. Gandy, Andrey Spektor and David Gopstein are in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendant:

TYVON BANNISTER (also known as “Turtle”)
Age:  25
Brooklyn, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 17-CR-116 (BMC)