An ex-con devoted dad who was an aspiring rapper was shot to death on the street outside a Hellâs Kitchen rooftop nightclub early Sunday, cops said.
Gibson Winters, 39, was shot in the back and groin near
W. 46th St. and Twelth Ave. at about 4:10 a.m., cops said.
The scene unfolded outside the Harbor NYC Club, though a police spokeswoman couldnât say Sunday if the shooting was linked to the club.
Medics rushed the victim to
Mount Sinai Morningside, but he could not be saved.
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News
A 39-year-old man was shot to death on the street outside a Hell's Kitchen rooftop nightclub early Sunday. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
Winters, who was released from federal jail three years ago, had devoted himself to trying to launch a rap music career and to taking care of his young daughters, his lawyer, Camille Russell, told the Daily News.
âFrom what I understand, itâs a senseless killing that he actually had nothing to do with,â she said. âHe was defending someone, from what I had been told. I donât even think he really knew them, but they were being attacked and then he stepped in to assist and then was subsequently killed.â
Winters spent more that two years in MDC Brooklyn federal jail after his indictment on charges he and other members of the Rollin 60 Crips ran a cocaine dealing conspiracy. He was released with time served in October 2022.
âFrom the moment I met him, I knew he had a tremendous bond with his two daughters,â said Russell, who represented him in that case. âThatâs pretty much the only thing he talked about, getting back to them. ⌠He was always a hands-on father, picking them up from school, taking them to school. He was very involved in their day-to-day.â
Wintersâ family is âdevastatedâ by the killing, she said.
Obtained by Daily News
Gibson Winters with his daughter. Winters, 39, was shot to death on the street outside a Hell's Kitchen nightclub early Sunday. (Obtained by Daily News)
In an October 2020 letter to a Brooklyn Federal Court judge, Winters talked about his devotion to his girls as he pleaded for his release on bond. She also noted he was making progress in his hoped-for music career.
âIf I have to go to prison for this case, I would at least like some time with my daughters Allure and Aalani. Like most men, I love my daughters more than life itself,â he wrote. âMy kids depend on me and see me as a strong father figure. I did not get the opportunity to at least say goodbye to them and have a talk with them about what my future may hold.â
His bond was denied at the time, with federal prosecutors pointing to his criminal past and accusing him of being present during the July 8, 2019, shooting death of a man named Julius Caesar, 31, on Union St. and Utica Ave. in Crown Heights.
Julian Roberts-Grmela / New York Daily News
A candle memorial for Gibson Winters forming name âLo,â which friends said was the victimâs nickname, is set up near the victim's home Sunday night. (Julian Roberts-Grmela / New York Daily News)
Wintersâ cousin, Terrell Winters, was charged with the shooting, and Russell in her court filings said Gibson didnât know what was about to happen and was caught on video throwing his arms in the air, indicating his surprise at the shooting.
Russell said Sunday she didnât think Wintersâ past had anything to do with his killing.
âHe was trying to better himself, and then he could make a living for him and his kids,â she said. âI donât think Gibson had any involvement in anything negative in that regard.â
About 100 people attended a candle-lit memorial on the victimâs block Sunday night. Blue and white candles spelled out, âLo,â which attendees said was Wintersâ nickname.
Cops have made no arrests.