Quentin Stroman

Quentin Stroman, a 25-year-old Black man known to his friends as “Q,” was funny, full of smiles, and could light up any room he entered. He was a resident of the Brownsville neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, and was eagerly expecting the birth of a child when his life was tragically taken.

On the warm summer evening of Friday, July 16, 2021, the vibrant sounds of the city were pierced by gunfire. Just before 8:30 p.m., near the corner of Osborn Street and Pitkin Avenue, an argument that began inside a Quality Inn hotel spilled out into the street. New York City Police Department officers from the 73rd Precinct responded to a 911 call about an assault in progress and discovered Quentin lying in the middle of the road with a gunshot wound to his torso.

Witnesses described a harrowing scene. One local resident heard four shots before seeing Quentin run around the corner and collapse face down. The witness recalled seeing him gasping for breath as his chest filled with blood. Surveillance footage from a nearby business reportedly captured the moments leading to his death, showing a man chasing Quentin and firing a gun, with a woman running close behind. After Quentin fell to the ground, the pair fled the scene together. Emergency medical services rushed Quentin to Brookdale Hospital, but the injury was too severe, and he was pronounced dead.

The NYPD launched a homicide investigation, quickly identifying two persons of interest from evidence and witness statements. They released photos of 30-year-old Khalid McClean and 22-year-old Alisia Arthur to the public, noting they had been seen inside the hotel just before the shooting. Investigators believed a dispute inside the hotel lobby had escalated, leading to McClean chasing Quentin outside and shooting him.

On Saturday, July 31, 2021, about two weeks after the shooting, Khalid McClean surrendered to the police. He was arrested and charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon. He was subsequently arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court and held without bail. His alleged accomplice, Alisia Arthur, remained at large for a short time longer.

The search for Arthur ended on August 11, 2021, when she was arrested. She was also indicted on charges of murder and criminal possession of a weapon for her role in the incident. While the case against McClean moved through the justice system, Arthur's proceedings followed a separate path.

In October 2023, a jury found Khalid McClean guilty of murder in the second degree and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. The following month, he was sentenced to a term of 22 years to life in prison for the murder, with a concurrent sentence of 15 years for the weapons charges, bringing a measure of justice for Quentin's family. As of early 2024, the legal proceedings against Alisia Arthur were still pending in the court system, and the final disposition of her case has not been publicly reported. The case stands as a somber reminder of how quickly a dispute can escalate to fatal violence, forever altering the lives of everyone involved.