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Guyanese man cleared in Brooklyn killing wants to return to U.S. after deportation
By
Ben Feuerherd
Published Jul 1, 2025
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Legal Aid Society
By
Ben Feuerherd
Published Jul 1, 2025
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A man wrongfully convicted of a fatal shooting in a Brooklyn video game room more than two decades ago and then deported to his native Guyana will work to return to the United States now that his name has been cleared, his attorney said Tuesday.
A Brooklyn judge vacated the manslaughter conviction of Brian Kendall, 54, who was 17 years old when police accused him of the shooting inside a Flatbush candy store with a game room in 1988. A year later, Kendall pleaded guilty to manslaughter to avoid the possibility of a life sentence, without understanding that the evidence against him was weak, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez’s office said. He served more than 16 years in prison.
Kendall’s current Legal Aid Society attorney and the district attorney’s Conviction Review Unit found Kendall was acting as a Good Samaritan after the shooting, running with a group pursuing the actual gunman. In a report released Tuesday, the district attorney determined the evidence shows Kendall is “likely innocent.” The fact that he pleaded guilty does not contradict that finding, the report adds.
The fatal shooting of the victim, Raphael Reyes, appeared to be a professional hit set up by a rival, Kendall’s Legal Aid attorney David Crow said. The gunman likely behind the killing is now dead, he added.
After serving his sentence, Kendall was deported to Guyana in 2005. After a hearing formally vacating Kendall’s conviction, Crow said Kendall seeks to return to the United States, despite the ongoing immigration crackdown by President Donald Trump’s administration.
“Because the conviction has been vacated, it can no longer be used as a basis to sustain his deportation status. And so he’s going to attempt – even in this environment – to return to the United States,” Crow said in the hallway of Brooklyn Supreme Court.
Trump has made immigration enforcement a key component of his second term in office. Top White House official Stephen Miller said in a television interview in May that the administration’s goal is for ICE agents to arrest a minimum of 3,000 people per day nationwide. In New York, masked ICE agents have been stationed at federal immigration courts to arrest migrants after they show up for pre-scheduled court hearings.
Kendall left Guyana with his family as a child and settled in Brooklyn, Crow said. He eventually became a legal permanent resident. After his arrest, he never set foot in the borough again as a free man, Crow said. Before his deportation, Kendall had not been back to Guyana since he was 11 years old.
“He lived hand-to-mouth. He slept on people’s couches,” Crow said of his client’s return to Guyana. “He learned the electricity trade when he was incarcerated, and he just worked. He worked hard and he has continued to do that all these years, while not being able to see his family in the United States.”
Kendall’s mother died while he was serving time in prison and his father shortly thereafter, Crow said. His remaining family, including two sisters and a younger brother, remained supportive of him throughout his wrongful incarceration.
In brief remarks via a video feed from Guyana, Kendall said in court that the district attorney’s report “clearly cleared my name and exposed this miscarriage of justice.”
He added that his arrest touched off a “lifelong battle that I’m still going through.”
Tagged
brooklyn
public safety
Ben Feuerherd
Ben Feuerherd covers public safety and policing for WNYC and Gothamist. He previously covered federal courts for The New York Post and The Messenger. His work has also appeared in POLITICO, the Daily Beast and NBC New York. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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