Long Island Bloods gang leader admits role in 2020 Baywood murder, operating multistate narcotics network
The Alfonse M. D'Amato U.S. Courthouse in Central Islip. Credit: Newsday / John Paraskevas
A leader of the Long Island Bloods street gang admitted his role Friday in the murder of a man found shot in the head in the backyard of a vacant Baywood home in 2020, federal prosecutors said.
Dwayne Murray, 36, of Coram, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Central Islip to racketeering charges connected to the June 12, 2020, murder of Wayne Cherry, along with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to murder rival gang members.
Murray, also known as "Wayno," is a leader in the Almighty Gorilla Stone Nation set of the Bloods street gang, prosecutors said Friday.
"For the acts of murder, violence and narcotics trafficking this defendant committed, he has now been held accountable and our communities, particularly Suffolk County, will be safer with him locked away in prison for a substantial period of time," said Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Murray faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison when he is sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven L. Tiscione on March 10.
Avi Moskowitz, Murray's Manhattan-based defense attorney, did not respond to a request for comment.
Murray admitted Friday to participating in the robbery and murder of Cherry, who was shot twice, including once in the head, more than six years ago, prosecutors said.
Cherry’s body was found two days later, police said at the time.
Murray also admitted his roles in the Blood's yearslong conspiracy to distribute narcotics — acknowledging he was responsible for trafficking more than five kilograms of cocaine — and a standing order to kill rival members of the Almighty Gorilla Stone Nation.
Prosecutors contend the gang and some of its leaders, including Murray, also ran a sophisticated network trafficking firearms that spanned several states, and committed extensive fraud, stealing more than $1 million.
In a statement, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said prosecutors had ended Murray's "reign of terror" while FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Barnacle said the defendant "wreaked havoc across Long Island, putting innocent residents in the crosshairs of drug trafficking and retaliatory murders."
Murray, along with another Bloods member, Kendrick Seymore of Coram, were charged in 2024 with murder, attempted murder, racketeering and drug offenses while a third member, Lavalle Wilson of Shirley, was charged in connection with a number robberies, home invasions, shootings and murders.
Last year, the three men, along with a fourth — Sheim Tevin Ramsey-Davis of Augusta, Georgia — were named in a 46-count indictment that included charges of racketeering and racketeering conspiracy, violent crimes in-aid-of racketeering, brandishing and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, robbery and narcotics trafficking.
Seymore faces three murder charges and federal prosecutors announced in February they intend to seek the death penalty if he's convicted in any of the three killings.
The cases against Wilson and Ramsey-Davis are ongoing, records show.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
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