Prosecutors say Oumar Barry ordered the 2023 attack and Joel Badger carried it out after the gunmen mistook Kimberly Midgette for someone else.
MINEOLA, N.Y. — Two men accused in the fatal shooting of a Bronx elementary school teacher are on trial in Nassau County, where prosecutors say an alleged gang leader ordered an attack that killed the wrong person and left another woman wounded.
Oumar Barry and Joel Badger have pleaded not guilty to charges that include murder, attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the April 1, 2023, shooting of 44-year-old Kimberly Midgette in Hempstead. Prosecutors contend Barry arranged the shooting and Badger was among those sent to carry it out. Their attorneys challenged the prosecution’s account as opening statements began Oct. 22.
Midgette had driven to Polk Avenue in Hempstead shortly after 1:30 a.m. to drop off her 10-year-old daughter at the home of the child’s father, according to prosecutors. Midgette was in the driver’s seat of her Toyota Corolla, a friend was seated beside her and her daughter was in the back seat when gunfire struck the vehicle. Midgette was critically wounded and died April 4. Her friend was wounded in the arm and survived. The child was not physically injured.
Prosecutors say Midgette was not the intended target. Authorities have described the killing as a case of mistaken identity linked to a dispute involving alleged members of the Bloodhound Brims. During the trial’s opening, prosecutors said Midgette was mistaken for a rival gang member. The allegation that an uninvolved teacher was killed because she was misidentified is central to the state’s case against Barry and Badger.
Authorities have alleged that Barry held a leadership role in the Bloodhound Brims on Long Island. A separate Suffolk County gang investigation accused him of contacting another alleged leader on March 31, 2023, and seeking lower-ranking members to carry out a shooting in Nassau County after a dispute with rivals. Suffolk prosecutors have said Badger and others then traveled to Nassau County, obtained a stolen vehicle and participated in the Hempstead attack. Those allegations are part of the prosecution’s broader account of how the shooting developed, but Barry and Badger are presumed innocent in the Nassau County case unless proved guilty.
News 12 reported that prosecutors told jurors Barry ordered the shooting and Badger fired at Midgette’s vehicle. The prosecution began presenting witnesses after opening statements, including Midgette’s mother, and jurors heard emergency calls made after the shooting. Prosecutors are seeking to connect the defendants to the killing through the circumstances surrounding the attack and evidence gathered during the investigation.
The defense has disputed key parts of that account. Barry’s attorney told jurors his client did not order the shooting. Badger’s attorney argued that prosecutors lack forensic evidence directly tying his client to Midgette’s killing. Those competing claims frame a trial in which jurors will have to decide not only who participated in the attack, but whether prosecutors can prove the alleged roles of each defendant beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case emerged from investigations that ultimately stretched well beyond the Hempstead shooting. In February 2024, Suffolk County prosecutors announced a 103-count indictment against 31 alleged Bloodhound Brim members and associates following an investigation into shootings, armed robberies and illegal weapons across Long Island. Authorities alleged that violence was used to retaliate against rivals and strengthen standing within the organization. The Suffolk investigation identified Midgette’s death as one of the most serious episodes attributed to people accused of involvement with the group.
Badger is already serving a 22-year prison sentence stemming from a separate Suffolk County prosecution involving robbery and conspiracy to commit murder. That sentence does not resolve the Nassau County murder case, in which he continues to contest the charges. Barry also denies responsibility for Midgette’s killing.
The Nassau County trial is expected to continue for at least several weeks as prosecutors present witnesses and evidence and defense lawyers challenge the state’s account. No verdict has been reached, and both defendants remain presumed innocent of the charges being tried.
Author note: Last updated Oct. 27, 2026.