First ‘Rye Day’ suspect goes to prison for firing gun - and he wasn’t even in the big gang shootout

Rye Day shooting

Emergency personnel respond to a shooting at the park on the corner at Marcellus and Wyoming streets (behind WCNY TV) at about 8:30 p.m. June 20, 2020, putting an end to a peaceful neighborhood picnic. This woman is taken to the hospital after being treated at the scene.

Syracuse, NY — A Syracuse man who admitted firing a gun during the infamous Rye Day party last year will spend five years in prison.

Eric A. Williams, 37, was the first of 10 indicted defendants to plead guilty and be sentenced following the mayhem in June 2020.

But he wasn’t even part of the shootout that authorities say broke out between warring gangs and their allies that left a 17-year-old dead.

Eight others still face murder charges in Chariel Osorio’s death, the defendants accused of acting with depraved indifference to human life. Only one of those eight, Devar Williams, is accused of firing the fatal shot. But all are still headed to trial on a charge that, if proven, could land each of them in prison for 25 years to life.

RELATED: ‘Rye Day’ shootout caught on video. So why are 8 facing murder charges in one man’s death?

Williams was among the same crowd of 500 or so partygoers that day. And he fired his gun during the minute or so of chaos. But he was in a different part of the crowd. No one died or was injured near his bullets.

So Williams escaped being charged with murder. A indictment reduced an original attempted murder to weapons and reckless endangerment charges.

That’s what Williams pleaded guilty to. And County Court Judge Thomas J. Miller promised him a sentence of five years in prison.

Another Rye Day defendant, Carlos Ortiz-Carrasquill, 31, is also facing charges of opening fire during the pary, but not as part of the fatal shootout. His case remains pending.

Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or (315) 470-6070.

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