He’s in reel bother now.
One of many founders of the Mattress-Stuy “aquarium” constructed the beloved sidewalk fish pond whereas out on bail in an tried homicide case — for which he was sentenced to 12 years in jail on Friday.
Hajj Malik Lovick, 48, begged for mercy throughout the listening to in Brooklyn Supreme Court docket — taking part in up his ties to the group, together with his position in constructing the viral makeshift aquarium in a cracked sidewalk.
“He’s the founder and each day operator of the Mattress-Stuy Aquarium right here in Brooklyn,” his lawyer, Robert Isdith, mentioned in a bid for leniency. “He created that particular group function to assist the group.”
Lovick was convicted following a week-long trial in December of tried homicide, assault and gun prices for taking pictures a 51-year-old man outdoors the Lover’s Rock bar in Mattress-Stuy on June 15, 2023.
“I used to be going to have a group. I finished medication from occurring the nook they usually need to give me 15 years,” he mentioned in a rambling speech throughout his sentencing. “The place is the belief at? There’s no belief.”
His lawyer tried taking part in up Lovick as a caring father and group man — mentioning how held back-to-school backpack drives and goldfish adoption packages — along with founding the cherished fish gap.
However Brooklyn Assistant District Legal professional Alejandro Vera mocked the so-called aquarium’s affect on the Bedford-Stuyvesant group, noting that it was constructed “lower than a block away” from the place the caught-on-camera taking pictures occurred.
Prosecutors have mentioned Lovick and the sufferer obtained into an altercation on the bar, and that issues had cooled off — earlier than the shooter went to a close-by constructing to seize a gun and returned, firing two photographs at his rival and a crowd of bystanders.
The sufferer suffered a gunshot wound to his proper knee. Lovick fled the scene and was arrested 4 days later the place a knife was discovered on him, prosecutors mentioned.
Brooklyn Supreme Court docket Decide Jane Tully appeared dumbfounded by Lovick’s lawyer’s bid to play up his neighborhood ties contemplating he “put that very group in grave hazard” by firing a gun right into a crowd.
“He made a acutely aware, premeditated resolution to stroll away, to go get a gun and to return again… [and[ fire two shots,” the judge said. “He could have killed [the victim], he may have killed anybody of the many individuals that have been standing on the crowded sidewalk at the moment. He put that very group in grave hazard.”
Practically two dozen supporters — together with the aquarium’s co-creator Je-Quan Irving — have been within the viewers for Lovick’s sentencing.
The Mattress-Stuy aquarium popped up within the neighborhood in August 2024, with dozens of goldfish swimming in roughly two inches of puddled water in cracked sidewalk beneath a hearth hydrant.
Lovick instructed The Publish on the time that he’d purchased the goldfish from a close-by pet retailer with Irving and was crowdfunding plexiglass and a filtration system for $5,000 by way of GoFundMe to guard the fish because the climate cooled down.
The neighborhood favourite — situated on Tompkins Avenue and Hancock Road — rapidly went viral earlier than the FDNY turned off the hydrant and officers cemented over the busted sidewalk, capping the pond and leaving a number of goldfish to die.
However organizers rapidly scrapped collectively a new-and-improved model of the aquarium days later — resurrecting the aquarium in a tree pit subsequent to the concrete-slabbed pond in November that boasted a solar-powered water filter, a titled tank and heater for his or her fishy pals.
The attraction, typically criticized by animal activists, was pressured to shut round Christmas when frigid temperatures and snow barreled by way of the Massive Apple — however organizers claimed the fish are alive and swimming in a secret location.
Lovick was out on bail awaiting trial when he constructed the so-called aquarium.
He was convicted of second-degree tried homicide, prison use of a firearm within the second diploma and different prices on Dec. 11, 2024, and confronted as much as 25 years behind bars on the highest cost.
“At present’s sentence sends a transparent message that mindless acts of gun violence haven’t any place in Brooklyn,” Brooklyn District Legal professional Eric Gonzalez mentioned in a press release.
“The defendant’s resolution to open fireplace over a petty argument not solely brought on severe hurt to the sufferer however endangered harmless lives in our group,” he mentioned. “This brazen disregard for security is unacceptable. As Brooklyn reached the bottom variety of shootings ever recorded final 12 months, we stay steadfast in our dedication to holding people who perpetrate gun violence accountable to make sure our borough stays a safer place for all.”
Lovick’s lawyer mentioned he didn’t know what the destiny of the aquarium could be with the co-founder in lockup.
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