More than two dozen members of the notorious Bloodhound Brims gang have been indicted in connection to 18 shootings on Long Island — including the murder of an innocent elementary school teacher in front of her 10-year-old daughter, prosecutors said Thursday.
The 31 alleged gang members were charged in the 103-count indictment over 34 incidents dating back to August 2021 in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said.
One of the defendants, Oumar Barry, also known as “Dolo,” was charged for the April 1, 2023 murder of 44-year-old Kimberly Midgette, in a drive-by shooting when her car was mistaken for that of a rival gang member in Hempstead, Tierney said.
Her 10-year-old daughter, who was in the backseat, was unharmed.
“Kimberly Midgette was a beloved elementary school teacher who was senselessly shot and killed during a drive-by shooting as she sat in her car,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said in a statement.
“Working with our law enforcement partners, we indicted defendant Oumar Barry – an alleged Bloodhound Brims member – for her murder.”
Eight of defendants were arrested on Wednesday while the other 23 were already behind bars, Tierney said.
Many of them are charged with conspiracy to commit murder. The charges in the indictment also include three armed robberies, the possession of 12 illegal handguns and the possession and sale of narcotics across Long Island, prosecutors said.
The Bloodhound Brims are a subset of the larger, state-wide gang known as the New York Blood Brim Army — which is itself a subset of the nationwide Bloods street gang, Tierney told reporters at a press conference on Thursday.
The national leader, Latique Johnson — or “La Brim” — allegedly was in communication with members of the gang in Long Island while locked up in California on federal RICO convictions stemming from his position in the gang.
Among those he’s believed to have been in touch with are Barry — the gang’s Nassau County leader — and Jussiah Herbert, head of the Suffolk County set, according to authorities.
Barry and Herbert allegedly worked together and ordered young members of the gang to carry out the shootings to “maintain fear and respect of the gang,” Tierney said.
“Bloodhound Brims has sets throughout all five boroughs and other areas of New York state including Long Island,” Tierney said.
The Long Island set refers to themselves as “Afghans” or “’Jets,” he said. The gang “has an established structure and hierarchy” and “documented commandments, oaths, rules and a coded language that is distributed to members upon entering the gang.”
Johnson, the national leader, promoted or booted members of the club “based on violent street activity,” Tierney said.
“If you committed violence you were promoted. If you refused or were not committing violence you were drummed out of the gang,” he said.