MINEOLA, N.Y. — Taiquan Cullum, a known member of the Bloods gang and also known as “Tay Tay,” has been convicted of second-degree murder for his role in a 2019 drive-by shooting that claimed the life of Paul LaRue, a 36-year-old innocent bystander.
On June 26, 2025, a Nassau County jury found Cullum, 35, guilty after a trial before Judge Howard Sturim. He was also convicted of two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. Sentencing is scheduled for August 25, 2025, where he faces a maximum of 40 years to life in prison.
“This was a cowardly act of retaliation,” said District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly, “that took the life of an innocent man who had no connection to the dispute.”
The incident began in the early hours of July 28, 2019, when Cullum was shot at seven times outside D’Ambiance bar in Baldwin by Jermaine Grant over a neighborhood dispute. Cullum survived and later went to Hempstead to retrieve a gun. He then picked up Deion Barros, a co-defendant, to search for Grant.
While driving around, they encountered Paul LaRue, a friend of Grant but uninvolved in the shooting. As LaRue sat at a red light at Clinton Street and Fulton Avenue in Hempstead, Cullum and Barros pulled alongside him. Barros allegedly opened fire, striking and killing LaRue.
The pair fled the scene. Later that same morning, Grant was arrested for the attempted murder of Cullum. In October 2022, Grant was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Cullum was arrested in August 2023 at Otisville Correctional Facility by Nassau County homicide detectives. The case against Deion Barros, 29, is still pending.
Senior Litigation Counsel Stefanie Palma of the Homicide Bureau prosecuted the case, supervised by Bureau Chief Jared Rosenblatt and Executive ADA Kevin Higgins. Cullum was represented by Gilbert Bayonne, Esq., and Philip Pierre, Esq.
