Two alleged drug dealers living in Brooklyn, New York, could face the death penalty on federal charges, following their indictment for the murder of another drug dealer in Red Hook in April 2021.

Danzel Mackins and Darrin Samuels have already been criminally charged with conspiring to distribute crack cocaine, and are now being charged for the killing of Felton Durant, 23, who was shot in the chest, buttocks and hand in front of 100 Center Mall in the Red Hook Houses complex, a public housing project, during a drug sale dispute on April 25.

Durant was rushed to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Two other alleged gang members, Brooklyn residents Jamel Williams and Brandon Wilkins, were arrested on August 3 for alleged participation in drug-dealing activities.

Williams and Wilkins face a maximum sentence of up to 40 years in prison if convicted.

Although murder charges on the state level are punishable by life sentence without parole, under federal jurisdiction the death penalty is a possibility. A federal judge would have the final say. 

In a statement on August 4, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, said, “As alleged in the superseding indictment unsealed today, Danzel Mackins and Darrin Samuels participated in that brutal killing, which took place in the middle of a busy public housing development in South Brooklyn. Thanks to the hard work of the NYPD, the defendants have been charged with this heinous crime. To be clear, we are not going to give up any neighborhood, anywhere in this city to drug violence, and the charges unsealed today should make that clear to all violent actors who endanger our neighborhoods and our communities.”

“The wanton depravity outlined in the charges leveled against these individuals today will never be acceptable in any neighborhood of New York City,” Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said. “By dismantling their drug trafficking organization, and by putting a stop to the violence so often associated with this illegal activity, the NYPD and our law enforcement partners have affirmed our promise to the people we serve: Anyone who deals in this type of violent, destructive behavior will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”