A former actor who appeared on the hit shows Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Boardwalk Empire has been convicted of the 2021 murder of a Queens man.
On Friday (March 7), Isaiah Stokes was found guilty of shooting 37-year-old Tyrone Jones multiple times as Jones sat in his parked car, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
Stokes was convicted of second-degree murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and is scheduled to reappear for sentencing on March 21. He now faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 25 years in prison and could possibly receive a life sentence.
Stokes, now 45, was convicted following a two-week jury trial, which started on Feb. 13, during which the prosecution laid out the defendant’s motive behind the crime and his premeditated actions leading up to the murder.
The victim had drawn Stokes’ ire after having him kicked out of his birthday party in October 2020. Stokes, stewing over the incident for months, eventually place a tracking device underneath Jones’ car on Jan. 29, 2021.
Days later, on Feb. 7, 2021, Stokes tracked Jones’ vehicle to the intersection of Linden Boulevard and 200th Street, approached the driver’s side of the car and shot Jones 11 times, striking him in the head and chest. Jones, who was 37-years-old at the time, was pronounced dead at the scene.
“This was a calculated murder,” Queens DA Melinda Katz said in a statement. “The defendant, a part-time actor, stewed for months after being thrown out of a birthday party for his own inappropriate behavior.
“Intent on revenge, Isaiah Stokes placed a GPS on the victim’s car and tracked Tyrone Jones down to Linden Boulevard, where he ruthlessly shot the man 11 times as he sat in his car.”
Katz continued, reiterating her mission to decrease shootings and other crimes involving firearms in her borough.
“My office is laser-focused on gun violence, and we will utilize every tool at our disposal to investigate, arrest and prosecute those who use deadly guns on our streets,” the DA vowed.
“I thank our prosecutors and the NYPD detectives who built this case. The jury has now spoken, and the defendant faces up to 25 years to life at sentencing for his criminal actions.”
In addition to bit parts in the series’ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Boardwalk Empire, Stokes’ credits include appearances in Killa Season, Louie, The Americans, Blue Bloods, and Power.