Staff photo by Kenneth Dean

1. Tyler man gets 45 years for his role in shooting

(UPDATED March 16, 2015 at 11:08 am CT) — The final defendant in the P.T. Cole Park gang shooting in July 2013 was given 20 years for his role in the shooting that left a 20-year-old mother dead. 

Rakheem Goldstein entered a guilty plea Monday morning on the first-degree murder charge in Judge Jack Skeen’s Smith County courtroom and received a 20-year sentence as part of a plea bargain.

Tyler police said in court this morning that Goldstein’s cooperation with detectives in 2013 helped them break the case in the shooting that claimed the life of Brianna Young, who died while holding her toddler son in her arms.

Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham said he was pleased the case had come to a conclusion and praised the work of his team of prosecutors who worked the case. 

“We’re happy to have the cases resolved. They all had different roles and different responsibilities. Goldstein was extremely cooperative with us from the get-go. Without him, we would not have located the guns and we would not know who the other individuals that were involved who they are, so he was extremely cooperative and his sentence reflects that,” he said. 

Goldstein had testified he was with Elisha Williams, 20, and Dennis Montrell Bendy, 20, when the three drove to the park to “take out” a rival gang member. 

The men sprayed the park with bullets, sending park-goers and nearby residents scrambling for cover. 

Bingham said Goldstein helped authorities by telling them where they got the guns for the shooting and where they got rid of the guns. 

“He filled in all of the missing pieces that we didn’t know. Anytime you can have a person thats cooperating and you can verify what they are telling you is truthful, its extremely helpful because there are things they only they know and we don’t know. In a lot of cases, without that cooperation, it would be impossible to prosecute them,” he said.