Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announced the sentencing of John Roberts, 25, to life without parole for the murder of Anthony Rodgers in August, 2006.  Roberts was convicted on May 1 of Murder in the First Degree and sentenced on May 22 before Justice Neil Firetog.

On August 31, 2006, Roberts approached the victim, in front of 199 Amboy Street, with a gun and demanded his money and property.  Rodgers started to run away when Roberts shot him in the back.  Then, as Rodgers is on the ground, Roberts ripped the victim’s chain off his neck and began to walk away.  Rodgers then tackled the defendant, attempting to recover his chain.  Roberts then fired four more shots at Rodgers, killing him.  Roberts also accidentally shot himself in the thumb.  The blood from his injured thumb was recovered from the ground and the defendant’s DNA on the chain were taken for DNA analysis, leading to his eventual arrest on September 2, 2006.

Roberts also had an accomplice, Desmond Arnold, 21, who was present during the robbery.  After the incident, Roberts handed the chain and the weapon to Arnold, who was caught several hours later.  Arnold pled guilty to Robbery in the First Degree and will be sentenced on June 20.

Roberts, who was on parole at the time of the murder, has two prior felony convictions, one for Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in October 2002, and the other for Attempted Robbery in May 2005.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney Lawrence Fredella from the Homicide Bureau.  Kenneth Taub is Chief of the Homicide Bureau.