A member of the 5-9 Brims Bloods gang has pleaded guilty to being one of the shooters in a chaotic gunfight that left three people dead and 10 wounded in a crowded Brooklyn nightclub last year.
Timothy Spence, 21, could face 24 to 27.5 years in federal prison after his guilty plea Tuesday to assault in-aid-of racketeering and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
Spence, who’s known as “Little Tim,” admitted he opened fire inside the Taste of the City lounge on Franklin Ave. in Crown Heights on Aug. 17 to gain status in his gang, and to target members of their rivals, the Folk Nation Gangster Disciples.
Video released by federal prosecutors last year shows more than 40 shots fired in just six seconds as patrons fall to the ground and scramble for the exit.
The three dead include Brims member Marvin St. Louis, 19, who cops say sparked the shooting with a derogatory hand sign and the initial barrage of bullets, Folk Nation gang member Jamel Childs, 35, who returned fire, and 27-year-old Amadou Diallo, who police believe was a bystander.
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News
A handgun is seen on the street after a gang-related mass shooting at Taste of the City Lounge on Franklin Ave. in Crown Heights in August 2025. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
“On August 17, 2025, in Brooklyn New York, I fired a gun at members of a rival gang, Folk Nation, in a bar lounge,” Spence told Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Orelia Merchant. “I was a member of a rival gang, the 5-9 Brims Blood set. We protected our territory with violence, members sold drugs, and some did robberies. Me and other members shot at Jamel Childs, who was also shooting at us. The shooting was part of our beef with the Folk gang. I knew what I was doing was wrong and a crime.”
Prosecutors have described the lounge as “known gang territory.”
“As part of a gang dispute, Spence and others opened fire in the middle of a crowded bar, leaving three people dead and 10 other injured victims,” U.S Attorney Joseph Nocella said Tuesday. “As today’s guilty plea demonstrates, our office is committed to prosecuting all gang-related gun violence and holding accountable those who perpetuate it.”
Spence is slated to be sentenced Nov. 10.
The feds charged another reputed member of the 5-9 Brims, Elijah Roy, 25, who video shows fired two shots as he fell to the ground in the chaos. Authorities caught up with Roy down in North Carolina on Sept. 18, where he had $7,000 in cash on him when arrested, according to the feds
A third suspect, Halie Cummings, 34, is still on the run. Police released his photo in February and are asking anyone with info on him to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.