Eric Baldwin and Corey Grier of Freeport plead guilty in fatal shooting of man who cashed $55,000 settlement check, DA says

A Freeport man accused of fatally shooting a man who had just cashed a check for $55,000 pleaded guilty on Tuesday to second-degree murder and other charges stemming from a 2021 robbery, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said. 

Eric Baldwin, 27, also pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree robbery and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, during an appearance before Acting Supreme Court Justice Terence Murphy. 

“James Diamond had more than $50,000 in cash on him when these defendants lured him to Freeport, where he was robbed and shot once in the abdomen,” Donnelly said in a statement. “Diamond was a talented tradesman and aspiring musician who had his entire life in front of him.”

Another defendant linked to the death of 28-year-old Diamond, Corey Grier, also of Freeport, pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon on Thursday.

Baldwin faces up to 25 years to life in prison when he returns to court for sentencing on Nov. 13. Prosecutors have asked for a 23-year sentence. Grier, 29, is expected to be sentenced to 20 years in prison when he returns to court on Oct. 5. 

Baldwin’s attorney, Richard Langone, said his client is a first-time offender and that the shooting was an accident that occurred during the robbery. Langone said Baldwin asked him to apologize to Diamond’s family.

“There was no intent to kill,” Langone said. “He never wanted to kill.”

Justin Feinman, Grier’s lawyer, declined to comment on Thursday. 

Nassau County prosecutors said Diamond and a friend drove to the office of a Long Beach law firm on Sept. 20, 2021 to pick up a check for $55,000 that Diamond was awarded as part of a lawsuit. Diamond and his friend picked up Grier and then drove to a check-cashing business, where Diamond cashed the check. 

Grier directed Diamond and his friend to a location on South Bay Avenue in Freeport, so Diamond could buy a gun, according to prosecutors. Diamond and the friend left to deposit the cash at a nearby bank. Grier called two other men — Akeem Chambers and Todd Brant — and told them to meet him at the South Bay Avenue location, prosecutors said. Baldwin accompanied Chambers and Brant. 

Diamond did not deposit the cash and drove back to South Bay Avenue with his friend. When they returned to the location, Baldwin and Chambers ordered Diamond and his friend out of their vehicle at gunpoint. During the ensuing struggle, Baldwin shot Diamond once, grabbed the bag of cash, and fled, prosecutors said. 

Baldwin was arrested by Nassau police detectives in East Meadow nearly two months later, on Nov. 3, 2021. Grier was arrested that same day in Bay Shore. 

Chambers and Brant are being prosecuted by the U.S. Justice Department for Diamond’s death and other violent crimes, Donnelly’s office said.