Burka-wearing leader and shooter sentenced for daylight assassination

Kenneth Wiggins Jr. Courtesy of the Wiggins family

The man who disguised himself in a woman’s burka while hunting a rival and the accomplice who pulled the trigger received long prison sentences today.

Qentin Salmond, 28, who orchestrated the April 2008 murder of Kenneth Wiggins, Jr., was sentenced to 25 to 50 years on third-degree murder and conspiracy charges.

Jamil Banks, a.k.a. Jamil Baynes, 30, who ambushed 19-year-old Wiggins from behind and shot him as he lay on the ground, was sentenced to 30 to 60 years on murder, conspiracy and gun charges.

Prosecutor Peter Lim said at the sentencing hearing that Salmond orchestrated the hit in revenge for Wiggins robbing him of his winnings at a dice match a few days prior to the murder.

“He got punked and disrespected by the victim in a dice game a couple days before,” Lim said. “He was a person who didn’t believe he should ever be disrespected.”

Surveillance footage introduced into evidence at trial shows Salmond wearing a burka as he and Banks approach the Skyline Diner near Chew and Landsdowne avenues around 12:30 p.m. on April 14, 2008.

While Salmond hid in a nearby doorway on the street, Banks entered the diner to see if Wiggins was inside, then left to hide with Salmond

When Wiggins exited, both men ran after him. Banks is seen on surveillance footage knocking Wiggins down and then firing a handgun at him.

“On Saturday morning my son called me to wish me a happy birthday. The next phone call I got was that he’d been shot and killed,” said Lisa Wiggins, Kenneth’s mother, at the sentencing hearing. “I’m never gonna have another birthday I’m gonna enjoy… It’s been a tremendous loss.”

Salmond, who was also a rapper under the name “CEO CUE” who ran “Allthentik Records, did not make a statement. Banks read an apology letter.

“There is no words or apologies that can amount to the pain and suffering that y’all are going through. I send my deepest prayers and condolences to the family,” Banks said.

The two were arrested in 2012 based on information provided by a federal informant.

Qentin’s brother Bernard Salmond, 29, served as getaway driver and was also convicted of murder.