Judge throws book at murderer as he executes Staten Island grandmother

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A Clifton man convicted in the shooting death of a Staten Island grandmother last May was sentenced Wednesday in St. George State Supreme Court.

Shaheem Chavis, 46, received life without parole for first-degree murder and received an additional 35 years in prison for attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the 2022 killing, which occurred at 260 Park Hill Ave. took place in his community.

The victim, 61-year-old Nadine Davis Russell, was found shot to death in her apartment in the early morning hours of September 21, 2022. Another man, reportedly a longtime friend of Russell’s, was shot twice that day, a witness in the case testified.

Chavis testified in court that he was using Russell’s bathroom on the morning of the killing when he heard two loud bangs and came out to find Russell’s male friend pointing a gun at him.

The two bullet holes in the other man, Chavis claimed, were the result of a violent struggle between the two and it was the other man who killed Russell. But prosecutors claimed it was the other man who called 911 and remained at the scene. This call was played to the jury several times.

When Assistant District Attorney Adam Silberlight asked if he had seen Russell’s lifeless body on the floor in a large pool of blood and brain matter in a narrow hallway, Chavis replied that he had not.

“I was crazy,” he said. “I had to get the hell out of there.”

Prosecutors alleged that after the shooting, Chavis was followed by cameras throughout the Park Hill apartment complex, leading up to his own building where he lived with his mother, and that the gun used to kill Russell was used by Chavis The crime scene was taken and placed in a meter room in his own building, which he claimed was to be kept safe until he could give his side of the matter to his probation officer, whom he allegedly trusted more than the police.

Ultimately, Chavis’ skin cell DNA was found on the bottom of the gun’s magazine, while the other man’s blood was found on the top of the gun.

The only defense witness to take the stand, Chavis also admitted to throwing the clothes he was wearing down a trash chute in his own apartment building and said he didn’t want to be falsely accused of something he didn’t do , but also wanted to erase any memory of what happened for his own psyche.

According to Chavis, Russell, who was raised by his mother whom he referred to as a “big sister,” wanted to get her boyfriend out of prison but didn’t have the $500 to do so.

“He told three different stories,” Silberlight said at trial, referring to interviews with investigators, then his grand jury testimony and finally his testimony on the witness stand.

In the days leading up to the murder, a series of text messages and conversations between Chavis and Russell about a domestic incident with her boyfriend and her subsequent attempt to break the boyfriend out of jail show that the defendant saw an opportunity to obtain cash, pills, etc. to come from the victim while her boyfriend was away, Silberlight suggested.

“He wanted to blow her head off so he could take what he wanted,” Silberlight said.

Previous murder conviction

The 2022 shooting was not Chavis’ first violent run-in with the law, as he was previously sentenced to 25 years to life in prison in 1995 for a botched robbery that ended in a deadly shootout in Clifton.

The 45-year-old victim, Mahmoud Addelrehiem, who was found shot two times in the back of the head at close range, was a husband and father of three who was an officer in the Egyptian army before immigrating to the United States.

At a parole hearing in 2021, Chavis detailed his actions in the November 1993 shooting, his experiences while incarcerated and plans after his release – along with letters from third parties and an apology message he sent to the victim’s family.

The parole board then considered that he had been rehabilitated and able to re-enter society without posing a danger to the public.

“Brutal and senseless”

“Two years ago this week, Shaheem Chavis committed a brutal and senseless act of gun violence in a Park Hill apartment. “This defendant’s brutal actions warranted a life sentence in fatally shooting Nadine Russell, a 61-year-old grandmother, and seriously injuring a second victim,” District Attorney Michael E. McMahon said in a statement.

“I commend our partners at the NYPD for their expert investigative work throughout this case, as well as Assistant District Attorney Adam Silberlight and Assistant District Attorney Melanie Sommer for obtaining a significant prison sentence that holds this dangerous defendant fully accountable, and for their tireless commitment.” to ensure justice for the Russell family and everyone involved in this harrowing case,” McMahon added.

An attorney for Chavis could not immediately be reached for comment.