Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes will seek the death penalty if it’s proven that good Samaritan carjack victim Rupinder Singh pleaded for his life before he was shot in the head.
“If the victim asked [suspect James] Johnson to spare his life, then we will definitely go for the death penalty,” said Kevin Davitt, Hynes’ spokesman.
Hynes has shied away from the death penalty in past cases. Of the 61 first-degree murder cases presented to his office, he sought capital punishment in only seven.
Singh was shot dead after he gave a ride to two men, two women and a 4-year-old girl who were stranded at a Belt Parkway gas station Friday morning.
As he was driving them to Crown Heights in his SUV, they forced him into the back seat, pistol whipped him and then dragged him out of the car and shot him in the head.
Both Johnson and his alleged accomplice, Jack “Payback” Govan, gave cops confessions – each accusing the other of firing the fatal shot. Cops say Johnson was the triggerman and charged him with first-degree murder. Govan was charged with second-degree murder.
In his statement to cops, Johnson said Singh “kept saying, ‘Please don’t hurt me. Just take the car.'”
Singh’s relatives said they want to see both suspects put to death.
“It’s obvious that my nephew pleaded for his life,” said Singh’s uncle Lucky Singh. “Both men should get the death penalty and for the women, at least life in prison.”
The victim’s sister, Gurpreet Kaur, said, “We’re angry and we’re going to get my brother justice. He was a good man. He saw a little girl and two ladies in trouble and helped – that’s the kind of person he was.”
One of the women with the killers was released after being questioned. The other, Darshen Kingsberry, the little girl’s mother, was charged with weapon’s possession.
Family friend Aman Kakar said, “It’s just ridiculous that the women were not charged [with murder]. Obviously this was all a setup.”
Singh’s sister agreed. “These two women are to blame because they were there,” she said. “They could have let my brother go. He pleaded for his life, but instead they killed him.”
The relatives spoke at St. John’s University, where Singh’s fellow students held a memorial service.