VIDEO: Man sentenced to prison for attempted murder after shooting at men in Queens motel

NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A man was sentenced to prison on Thursday for attempted murder for shooting one man inside a Queens motel and firing at another man who managed to escape in 2022, according to prosecutors.

Leo Daley, 23, was sentenced to 19 years in prison for shooting Terrell Chery, 25, inside the Kew Motor Inn in September 2022 and firing at another, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced.

“We are thankful we did not see the mass casualties that could have resulted from the defendant opening fire in a motel lobby,” Katz said. “It is because of brazen violence like this that we must do all in our power to get illegal guns and the criminals who use them off our streets.”

Daley, 23, was convicted by a jury in February following a nearly two-week trial of attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree, attempted assault in the first degree, assault in the second degree, attempted assault in the second degree, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and reckless endangerment in the first degree.

On Sept. 15, 2022, Daley walked into the lobby of the  Kew Motor Inn in Kew Gardens Hills and entered the adjacent bar. A couple of seconds later, Daley walked back into the lobby and pulled on a facemask to cover half his face, according to documents.

Chery and Mylord Williams, 24,  left the bar shortly afterward. Chery then walked to the elevator bank and was waiting there when Daley came up and fired at least two shots,  striking Chery in the left buttock, prosecutors said.

Daley then fired multiple shots at Williams, who had been standing just by the bar door. He was able to escape without getting shot.

Hotel video surveillance footage shows other people in the lobby ducking for cover as Daley fires shots.

Daley had been on parole supervision since April 2022. After the shooting, he stopped attending the meetings and fled to New Jersey, where police found him and extradited him to New York in November 2022.

Chery required an ileostomy and suffered other complications due to the gunshot wound, prosecutors said.