Detainee charged with orchestrating murder-for-hire plot using contraband cellphone: prosecutors

ByAaron Katersky, ABC News

Thursday, October 17, 2024

Detainee charged with orchestrating murder-for-hire plot using phone

Dajan McBean was charged with conspiring with two others to commit a murder.

BROOKLYN (WABC) -- An detainee at the federal lock up in Brooklyn was charged with orchestrating a 2023 murder-for-hire from behind bars using a contraband cellphone, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.

Dajan McBean is charged with conspiring with two others, Karl Smith and Chelsey Harris, to commit a murder. They ended up killing a bystander, Clarisa Burgos, 28, of Brooklyn and wounding her boyfriend, who was believed to be the intended target, according to police.

The killing, which occurred the day after Christmas 2023 outside a nightclub in Queens, was caught on surveillance video that showed at least two gunman opening fire on both sides of the victims, firing at least 16 shots.

Shell casings from both .45 caliber and 9mm weapons were recovered on Liberty Avenue.

McBean had been detained at MDC-Brooklyn while waiting to be sentenced for directing a separate shooting. He was expected to appear in Manhattan federal court later Thursday.

"As alleged, Dajahn McBean and his co-conspirators planned and carried out an elaborate plot to murder another individual by causing others to shoot at the target several times in New York City. During one of those shootings, an innocent bystander, Clarisa Burgos, was killed. McBean allegedly directed this murder plot using a contraband cellphone from within a federal jail while waiting to be sentenced for a separate gang related shooting," US Attorney Damian Williams said.