Rapper Kay Flock Sentenced to 30 Years for Gang Shootings

Kevin Perez, the 22-year-old Bronx rapper known as Kay Flock, was sentenced Tuesday in Manhattan federal court to 30 years in prison for his role in a series of gang-related shootings that prosecutors linked to a broader cycle of violence in New York City.

U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman imposed the sentence following Perez's March conviction on charges including racketeering conspiracy, attempted murder in aid of racketeering, assault with a deadly weapon in aid of racketeering, and firearms offenses. Prosecutors described Perez as the leader of Sev Side DOA, a street gang operating in the Bronx's Belmont neighborhood. They accused him of participating in at least four shootings between 2020 and 2021 that injured multiple people and contributed to heightened gang rivalries, endangering bystanders and destabilizing the community. While Perez was acquitted of first-degree murder in the December 2021 fatal shooting of Hwascar Hernandez outside a Hamilton Heights barbershop—after his defense argued self-defense—the government maintained that his actions fueled a pattern of retaliatory violence.

During the less than 18-month period, dozens of individuals were shot at, injured, or...