Manslaughter plea in fatal Peekskill shooting that was heard by police over phone call

The man charged in a fatal shooting that was heard by Peekskill police as the victim called to report he was being attacked has pleaded guilty.

Arnold Fernandez, 20, who was initially charged with second-degree murder, pleaded guilty in Westchester County Court last week to first-degree manslaughter in the Jan. 29, 2023, killing of Ricky Brickhouse and was promised a state prison sentence of 15 years.

Brickhouse, 35, and Fernandez, known as 'AJ' had a "beef" over a woman. Brickhouse called police shortly after 4:10 p.m. that day to report Fernandez was driving around in a white Acura with a gun in the car, according to a prosecutor's narrative in court documents.

Moments later he called police again to ask them to find the Acura. While still on the call, Brickhouse spotted the car and yelled 'What up?' as brakes could be heard screeching. Then gunshots were heard and Brickhouse yelled 'They hit me! They hit me! I got hit'. He told the desk sergeant he was on John Street near Spring Street but then said nothing more, according to the narrative.

Officers arrived in seconds and Brickhouse was taken to the hospital where he died from a single gunshot to the abdomen.

Police were familiar with the Acura and provided the license plate to the Westchester County police Real Time Crime Center, which soon located the car heading south on the Sprain Brook Parkway in Hawthorne. A high speed pursuit ensued and police finally stopped the car near Secor Road in Greenburgh less than half an hour after the shooting, Fernandez and two other occupants of the car, Omar Williams and Errick Lowe, were taken into custody.

The following day a motorist found a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun on the shoulder of the Sprain more than a mile north of where the car was stopped. Ballistics tests matched it to the three shell casings found on Spring Street and the bullet that killed Brickhouse, according to court documents.

Fernandez was the only one who faced a homicide charge. On Tuesday, Williams pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and was promised a 7-year prison term when he is sentenced May 22. Lowe, facing the same charge, is due back in county court on Thursday.

Fernandez's lawyer, Jeffrey Chartier, said his client continues to maintain he did not fire the gun and admitted only that he was acting in concert with others.

State Supreme Court Justice Larry Schwartz accepted the guilty plea and the 15-year prison term offered by prosecutors and scheduled sentencing for Fernandez for Aug. 21.