Lawrence Grammer was convicted in June of shooting Bashir ‘Bobby’ Ward in the back of the head in 2018
MINEOLA, N. Y. – Acting Nassau County District Attorney Joyce A. Smith announced that a Glen Cove man was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison following his conviction this June in the August 2018 shooting death of his co-worker at an automotive repair shop in Glen Head.
Lawrence Grammer, 74, was convicted by a jury of murder in the second degree (an A-I felony) and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree (a C violent felony) on June 3, 2021. The defendant was sentenced today to 25 years to life in prison before Judge Howard Sturim.
“Bashir ‘Bobby’ Ward was effectively executed when this defendant approached him from behind and mercilessly shot him once in the back of the head at close range, killing him,” said Acting DA Smith. “Grammer took a man’s life after a petty argument and will now spend decades in prison paying for his crime.”
According to the indictment, Lawrence Grammer shot and killed his co-worker, Bashir ‘Bobby’ Ward, 35, on August 4, 2018, at approximately 11:20 a.m. at the Citgo Gas Station/D&R Auto Services in Glen Head.
The defendant, who was 71 years old at the time of the incident, was employed as a mechanic at the shop for approximately 15 years. On the day before the murder, Grammer and a third co-worker got into an argument over gas station receipts. Ward intervened and Grammer and Ward’s argument became physical and Ward pushed Grammer onto the ground.
The following day, the deceased was working on a customer’s Jeep on a lift, while the defendant was working on his own vehicle, a Dodge Durango. Grammer retrieved a gun from his vehicle, walked up to Ward, shot him once in the back of the head from less than two feet away and left the location for a short period of time.
Grammer called 911 and told the dispatcher “I just killed a guy” and that the murder weapon was in the seat of a Toyota. He returned to the shop a few minutes later and was placed under arrest. The gun was recovered in a Toyota Rav4, which was parked down the street and registered to the defendant’s son.
Senior Litigation Counsel Tracy Keeton of the Homicide Bureau prosecuted the case. The defendant is represented by Joseph Lo Piccolo, Esq.
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