Guilty Verdict in Lower East Side Murder

Yesterday, a jury found 21 year old Rudy Fleming guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Nicole duFresne. Fleming was also found guilty of various robbery and weapons charges stemming the January 2005 incident on Clinton Street. He and his friends had been robbing and scaring people, and when they came across duFresne, her fiance, and their friends; Fleming pistolwhipped fiance Jeffrey Sparks and duFresne reportedly confronted Fleming, saying, "What are you going to do, shoot us?" Fleming did shoot duFresne, but his defense attempted to argue that the gun went off by accident (witnesses disagreed). Fleming, who did not attend the trial, had been on parole for gun possession during the shooting. He now faces a maximum of life in prison without parole; his sentencing will be on November 30. The cases of his accomplices are sitll pending.

duFresne's family issued a statement after the verdict. Here's an excerpt:

There are some in the media who criticized her actions that night. In defense of her wounded and bleeding fiancé and friends, Nicole chose to step forward, asking for their release from further harm. She confronted the man with the gun, pleading for the confrontation to end. The response to her request was a bullet to her heart. If a man had acted in the same manner, he may have been proclaimed a hero. Nicole died that night defending those she loved. She is our hero.

The NY Times also noted: "The family conceded that they wished she had acted differently, because she might still be alive. 'But,' they said, 'she was true to who she was — a brave woman in every aspect of life, sometimes afraid but always brave.'” And Sparks speaks with the Daily News (who calls him "Scott" for some reason) and says, "She didn't mean, 'I dare you to shoot me.' She meant, 'It would be smart if you stopped pointing the gun at me so I can turn around and walk away and you can walk away.'"

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on October 13, 2006 11:24 AM

Comments [rss]

student loans

Marvelous. Thanks, will spread this among my friends!

dsk lovers

i read this story in a magazine last summer. and at first it was kinda stupid because who says "what are you going to do.. shoot us?" to a man with a gun. then i realized that this is reallysad. the guy who did this should get a bigger punishment. he did shoot the lady. although she did say "shoot us" basically, she didnt mean it and she should have thought through it before. and everyone.. stop being so racist. it doesnt matter what color his skin was.. he did it.

blame it on booberg

to paraphase a vintage commercial,

You asked for it,you got it.

The projects will be here till you die and till your grandkids die. We are too deep in this city.

And, the NYPd can't protect you from Rockland and Riverhead. Even LI is too expensive for them.

I can tell from these posts how compassionate you whiteys are. and, how racist.

everyone is on welfare and rapin etc.

I too, every one of you guys die a death worse than Defresne. A cancer that shrivels your body away in a week wishing you were dead.

glassslipper

"white friends in the hood because

they'll be the first one's to get

the backlash."

gee thanks...

why are you arguing on a message board?

rahway is in jersey and it is NOT the hood. sorry.

anonymass

First of all: Captain Projects just shut the fuck up. Believe me homey, you don't want no race war. You may be outwardly aggressive but there are plenty of crackers out there just looking for a reason to kick some ass. Starting with the NYPD.

Secondly, I hope that every one of you sick fucks who says that she "deserved" to die has a relative buy the farm in the same way. And I hope it makes the news so we can make fun of you since that's obviously the classy thing to do when someone dies.

so there

i'm not good looking enough to be on ny's rags if i provoked teens to shoot me. i'm betting you wouldnt either. only those who fit a certain standard of beauty would. otherwise, you'd just be considered a fool for getting your dumb ass shot.

and thats the real tragedy.

Those who don't fit a certain standard of beauty would be considered "heroes" for standing up to their attacker.

i dont care

disgusted:

i'm not good looking enough to be on ny's rags if i provoked teens to shoot me. i'm betting you wouldnt either. only those who fit a certain standard of beauty would. otherwise, you'd just be considered a fool for getting your dumb ass shot.

and thats the real tragedy.

dat's the fact jak

You think you people can take the projects away?

Let's see you try. I sure hope you don't have white friends in the hood because they'll be the first one's to get the backlash.

You think the NYPD can help you? Where are they gonna park? or, for that matter you think they'll leave the comforts of Suffolk to come into the city to help rich whitey.

does Katrina ring a bell?

good luck, mr. tec nine, fifty bmg, remington 700 and mossy 12ga.

You wanna riot, you're going to get one.

maria

i am using this incident to teach my teenage daughter to NEVER talk back to someone with a gun in their hands.

no excuse for murder, but she behaved in a manner that sorely lacked 'street smarts'.

disgusted

#17 i dont care- what's tragic here is your thought process.

I guarantee that you 'aint that pretty' yourself, so if 'shit happens' and YOU'RE the one that gets shot in the chest let's see if you think it's not that tragic of a situation.

idiots fkin disgust me... you'd be one of them.

Ice T

rahway 4 life #14:

for all who were curious: FLETC = Federal Law Enforcement Training Center... the government does not issue tec9's..

the US FED Government uses mac10's and Uzi for security such as guarding the president and the like. They also use standard issue, glock 9mm and sig saur p228, you not knowing this leads me to believe you're clueless.

whether you attended any school for that matter does not mean you can aim a gun and shoot it correctly nor does it mean you can clean a gun properly.

the very fact you use "OZ" as a reference comparing prison to real life is retarted. tv prison is not real prison, not even close.

the occupants don't pay property tax. they barely pay rent. it's section-8 housing or very close, which means the tax payers pay for most of it. when the federal gov't pulls that plug you'll be singing a diff tune...

when you call a person a racist, it usually means that you are the racist. good luck with that.

i dont care

the only tragedy is how much people care about her murder. she's a pretty white girl that got shot by black teens in the early morning. shit happens. its not tragic.

and she aint that pretty.

move on, or care more about some other victim who didnt ask for it.

bob

Life in prison, please.

Miquel

Honestly, some people really disgust me.

Chris- I'm sorry the character education you received polarized you. But your repressed homosexuality is evident, which makes me feel like you could learn to appreciate diversity when you come out. I don't blame you, but if I ever see you father in person...

Fred- you should seek out a therapist to work on your displaced rage against women.

rahway 4 life

You keep believing what you want to believe.

How do you know that I didn't attend FLETC?

My mom is VERY proud of her favorite son. thank you very much.

Last I heard The Projects along FDR are public buildings, so how can they pay property taxes?

You're not a New Yorker, are you?

My life is Fine, how bout yours, you racist.

Ice T

rahway proud #7:

As long as prop values contnue to rise (which they will), the projects will no longer be able to afford the land tax... which is good... you'd be better off in east new york.

Oz is a walk in the park compared to real prison.

yer right prison guards don't care. they go home to families and home cooked meals, and vacations... stuck in jail fo life, your parents must be proud of your ignorance and hate.

you talk a lot with your tec 9's etc, but i bet you can't hit a can off a tree stump from 10 feet away,... you're too good at killing babies, beatin your girlfriends, rapin your mothers, and gettin locked up... some life you have.... some life...

I am not Star Jones

What is it with these black people? He's gotta do what he's gotta do? They are so quick to violence and he wasn't smart enough to get a legal job that now he's in jail for the rest of his life. Disagree? Show me stats for ratio of blacks/whites in prison.

This is for Chris -- In the same way that white congressmen don't own a patent on sending salacious IMs to teenagers, blacks do not own a patent on committing crime.

The circumstances of Nicole's death are tragic but slandering an entire race for the actions of one individual is a little loopy, no?

ed_Extinct

sig saur is rated one of the best semi's handguns in the world.

better than glock.

tec 9's are for the common gangter with no education in modern weaponery and who have no idea how to use or clean a gun.

if you knew anything, you would spend the extra food stamp/welfare check and get an uzi... uzi's are made with 6 parts... easy to clean, no misfiring and invented by the highly educated ultimate gangster, the islraeli mossad.

what did she do for living? what do you do for living? as if making a living has anything to do with a cold-hearted murder. have you read a single article about her, everyone of em mentions her real job.

rahway proud

Too bad, it's a shame you whitey's can't get rid of the projects on Houston and the surrounding LES.

Prop values would be much much higher than it already is.

Time for you to take the "oz" dvd out.

Prison guards don't care. You sure do talk a lot with your "sig saur" and 357 magnums.

What? no cobray or tec 9's?

fred

i wonder what she did for a living...u know, her real job...not the "i act in some bullsh!t theatre groups on the side and have a website" bit

and, oh, she got what she asked for