Updated 12/04/2011 01:24 PM
Suspect Charged With Murder In Queens Shooting Spree
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A Queens man is facing murder charges after a shooting rampage that began in an apartment and ended on a crowded bus.
Damel Burton, 34, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder and weapons possession and one count of attempted murder and assault.
Police say Burton first shot his girlfriend's 18-year-old son, Keith Murrell, in the chest in an apartment in South Jamaica.
Murrell then jumped out a second-floor window, and published reports say he ran to a nearby restaurant for help.
He later died at Jamaica Hospital.
According to the criminal complaint, Burton claimed he shot Murrell in retaliation for the boy's trying to stab in him in January.
"I didn't really know about any problems him and the stepfather had, 'cause it wasn't nobody in the home most of the time, it was just him and the stepfather," said Donnell Tucker, Murrell's cousin. "So we really don't know what was going on and then we don't know if there was any conflict."
About 20 minutes later, police say Burton boarded a Q111 bus headed for Jamaica Station, where they say he shot Marvin Gilkes, 36, in the head and Jojuan Lipsey, 29, in the jaw.
Gilkes was found dead in the back stairwell of the bus.
Lipsey was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where he underwent surgery.
Burton told police he did not like the way the two bus victims were looking at him.
"What I saw was a sea of people young and old running in one direction. Then I saw a number of people going away from the danger,” said one witness.
"I was trying to get away from the area after the first shot. It was very traumatic to me. I've seen this happen many times, and I did not want to be that person to get a stray bullet," said another.
Prosecutors say more people would have been shot, but Burton's gun jammed.
Burton is said to have recently been released from jail after serving seven years for robbery.
He is due back in court on Monday and is being held without bail.
If convicted of his current charges, Burton could face 25 years to life in prison.