NCC inmate faces 25 years for manslaughter

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A Brooklyn man who is incarcerated at the Nassau County Correctional Center in East Meadow was found guilty by a Nassau County jury on July 10 of strangling another inmate inside the jail in January 2012.

Charles Creekmur, 27, was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter after a five-day trial before Nassau County Court Judge Meryl Berkowitz, according to a press release issued by Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, who said that Creekmur faces up to 25 years in prison. He will be sentenced on Aug. 21.

On Jan. 7, 2012, Creekmur strangled Antwan Brown, 26, of Long Beach, in Brown’s second-floor cell after a dispute, according to Rice. At the time of the incident, Creekmur was awaiting trial on robbery and weapons charges stemming from a July 2011 attempted holdup. He pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted robbery and was sentenced by Nassau County Court Judge Jerald Carter in March 2012 to three years in prison.

“I thank the jury for their time and their careful consideration of all of the evidence in this case,” Rice said in a statement. “My office will continue to prosecute violent crime, no matter where in our county it occurs.”

The Herald previously reported that Creekmur, armed with a BB gun, attempted to rob a 59-year-old man in Cedarhurst in July 2011. Without getting the money he wanted, Creekmur fled, and was arrested later that day inside a grocery store.

At the time of his death, Brown was serving time for assault and attempted robbery, after he tried to rob a woman in West Hempstead in November 2010. Police said that Brown, then 24, argued with the woman in the parking lot of a White Castle and attempted to take her bag, which contained $200. He repeatedly hit the woman in the head and face before fleeing the scene, according to police.

While in custody at the 5th Precinct, police said, Brown ignored verbal directions and struggled with officers, one of whom suffered facial injuries as a result.

Brown pleaded guilty to second-degree assault on a police officer for the 5th Precinct incident. The other charges were covered by that plea.

Creekmur’s Garden City-based attorney, Joseph Lo Picollo, did not respond to a request for comment.