A Brooklyn man was sentenced on Tuesday to prison for the 2022 killing of an acquaintance in Brownsville.
Harvey French, a 54-year-old Brownsville resident, was convicted of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon on Oct. 17 after a jury trial, according to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. On Jan. 6, Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Phyllis Chu sentenced French to 23 years to life in prison for his crimes.
In April 2022, French got into a verbal fight with a man he knew, 56-year-old James Huff, near his home at Brownsville Houses. In the middle of the dispute, French pulled a gun, Gonzalez said, and fired between five and seven shots.
With wounds to his chest, side and legs, Huff tried to flee, but French kept firing and struck him in the back, then fled the scene.
Huff was rushed to Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Police arrested French at his home several months later, on Oct. 3, 2022. He was found with a large amount of crack, the Daily News reported at the time, and was also charged with drug possession. French had been arrested several times prior to the 2022 incident, per the News, and was believed to be a gang member.
“Today’s sentence provides accountability for this defendant for escalating an argument into a shooting and taking a man’s life. Gun violence is at record lows in Brooklyn and keeping defendants such as this individual off of our streets makes communities safer.”
The year 2025 was the safest year in Brooklyn’s history, Gonzalez announced last month, as homicides and shootings declined significantly. Gun violence in the borough was down 15% compared to 2024, and violent crime has been declining steadily in the borough since 2020.
Gonzalez credited those reductions to a multi-pronged approach, including engaging with the community, holding dangerous offenders accountable, and “breaking cycles of violence.”
