Mom Asks Son's Killer to Help Change 'Ignorant' Gun Culture

LaVerne Thomas wore a t-shirt with snapshots from her son's life, as she approached the courtroom well in Riverhead, Long Island to face her son's killer. She told the court her first born's name was Mark Elijah Birthwright. He weighed 9 pounds, 3 ounces, when he came into the world on July 16, 1994. His grandfather was one of the first Black police officers in Suffolk County.

Mark Elijah Birthwright, 26, was shot in the chest during robbery outside Long Island party in 2020.

Basheer Vinson, the 30 year old man convicted of fatally shooting Birthwright in the chest in 2020, was tracked down through DNA left on his purple baseball cap. Vinson's cap was knocked to the ground during a struggle, when Vinson and another man tried to rob Mark Birthwright outside a house party in Wyandanch on August 2, 2020. This was after the first wave of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic had swept through the nation and the world, a time when young people were eager to have a social life again.

Basheer Vinson of Brooklyn received 40 years to life for fatally shooting one man, and wounding another, outside LI house party.

Ms. Thomas pointed out to Vinson that he and her son were the same age when the shooting happened: 26.

She talked about the two lives ruined through an act of violence.

"There are no winners," LaVerne Thomas noted. "You made a choice to bring a loaded weapon to a party. You decided to rob my son."

Ms. Thomas continued with a statement that made the courtroom spectators straighten up and listen more.

"It is up to you to tell your children, especially your sons: Make better decisions. Now is the time to change the narrative of our culture," the mother said.

The mom pointed out that "guns are not killing us, but a handful of ignorant people."

Mark Elijah Birthwright was one of 543 people killed in New York State in 2020 in gun-related violence. It was the highest death toll tied to guns in New York in a ten year period.

Mark Elijah Birthwright, 26, was shot after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Basheer Vinson had come to the Long Island house party on Patton Avenue in Wyandanch from Brooklyn. The District Attorney's office said when Mark Birthwright left the party just after 2 a.m., he dropped a large roll of cash on the ground and then picked it up. That's when Basheer Vinson and another man demanded the money.

Vinson's purple baseball cap was knocked off his head during the brief struggle that followed, and then Mark Birthwright was shot in the chest. Another man at the party who tried to assist Birthwright was shot in the side. He survived.

The office of Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said a partial DNA profile tied to Basheer Vinson was recovered from one, 9 mm cartridge casing at the scene. Vinson was arrested more than two years later on October 4, 2022.

Mark Birthwright's cousin, William, said to the court at sentencing the family was still "not sure exactly who shot who. Another individual may have shot the gun."

But the mother had kept her focus on Basheer Vinson.

"Make the rest of your life mean something," LaVerne Thomas said. "This is just another waste of a young man's life. I would encourage you to educate yourself and others around you."

LaVerne Thomas, mother of Mark Birthwright, wore shirt filled with photos of her slain son.

When Basheer Vinson was given a chance to speak, he addressed the mother and said he had actually gotten to know Mark "before the situation."

"There was a whole, false narrative made about this whole situation," Vinson said.

At that point, Judge Timothy Mazzei, who presided over the trial, gave a quizzical look in Vinson's direction.

The judge sentenced Vinson to the maximum 25 years to life for Mark Birthwright's murder and another 15 years to life for shooting the second victim, who survived. The sentences will run consecutively, meaning Vinson received 40 years to life in prison.

District Attorney Raymond Tierney issued a statement after the sentencing:

"Unfortunately, this sentence cannot change history and the fact that the loss of the victim's life was sudden, brutal, and senseless. This was a violent and premeditated murder and robbery. We are gratified that the judge imposed the requested maximum sentence and hope the victim's loved ones find some small degree of solace in this very well-deserved sentence."

When LaVerne Thomas left the court, followed by a large group of family members and friends, I told her she had spoken eloquently in her son's name. Her voice broke with emotion as she simply said, "Thank you."