Brandon Woodard, Visiting from Los Angeles, Fatally Shot in Head Outside St. Thomas Choir School

Brandon Woodard, 31, visiting from Los Angeles, was murdered with a single shot to the back of the head in broad-daylight near Columbus Circle, in midtown Manhattan Monday afternoon.

The killer reportedly used a silver semi-automatic pistol in the hit in front of Saint Thomas Choir School on W. 58th Street near Seventh Avenue. Brandon Woodard was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, with part of his face blown off, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

The NY Daily News reports, Brandon Lincoln Woodard’s father, J. Lincoln Woodard, said his son had a criminal record, but was enrolled in law school. The motive for the shooting isn’t known at this time. The suspect is described as a black male wearing a dark coat, dark hood and khaki pants. He then hopped into the passenger side of a light-colored Lincoln MKZ sedan, the police said.

I came across an interesting article about a Brandon Woodard, who claimed he was beaten up by a bodyguard for singer Usher in 2004. The Brandon Woodard referenced in the article is also a law student.  Sandra McBeth Reynolds is referenced in the article as his mother. She seems to have a lot of problems on her hands, including legal issues, stemming from her real estate business.  I came across this link about a Sandra McBeth Reynolds, who was also named Sandra Woodard.  She has had some brushes with the law herself. Brandon Woodard worked at United International Mortgage, an LA firm founded by his mother.

Brandon Woodard Killed in Mafia-Style Hit in Midtown Manhattan (Photo credit: Facebook)

Brandon Woodard had just checked out of the posh 6 Columbus hotel, where rooms go for $850 a night. He served time on a battery rap. He was due in a Beverly Hills court on January 22 on a felony cocaine possession charge. He pleaded no contest to a felony and a misdemeanor hit-and-run charge in 2009, and was also wanted in the same year for stealing wine from a supermarket near Los Angeles, during which he led a chase into a neighboring town and managed to escape. In 2008, Brandon Woodard pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor counts of theft for stealing from a Whole Foods and another upscale market. So you can clearly see this was a deliberate hit on his life. This wasn’t a random killing. He reportedly has a bachelor’s degree in business from Loyola Marymount University and is a second year law student at the University of West Los Angeles, the NY Post reports. It is interesting that he is a law student with such an extensive rap sheet. He leaves behind a four year old daughter.

UPDATED 11:57 a.m. EST (12/11/12):  ”All My Children” star Tonya Pinkins is the person behind the www.sandramcbeth.info website, which we linked to above. She told Roger Friedman Brandon Woodard’s “enemies list was huge” and wasn’t surprised by his murder. Here’s an excerpt from Friedman’s column:

Pinks told me: “I’ve been trying to get the FBI, the US attorney to do something about this family for five years.” She says McBeth, now McBeth Reynolds– married to Pinkins’s ex and the father of her 16 year old daughter– has been a “big Black Collar criminal. She’s connected to judges, in my experience with her.” Pinkins says that in the past Woodard has allegedly forged all kinds of documents, and that “she’s been caught at it in court, and nothing’s happened to her.”

Pinkins says that McBeth and her last ex husband (Reynolds) have had a years long feud since 2006 that involves $30 million that is now “gone.” Pinkins says McBeth’s current husbband– who is Pinkins’ ex-boyfriend and father of her daughter, is an attorney with legal and substance abuse problems. “Sandra cashed my child support checks that he supposedly sent to me. I have copies of all the receipts and her signature,” Pinkins says.

Pinkins’ ex lover, Rodney David Wellington, was a lawyer who was disbarred in 2006. He also suffered from substance abuse. But he and McBeth Reynolds now have custody of his and Pinkins’ 16 year old daughter. http://www.iardc.org/05RT3001HB.HTML

UPDATED 12:24 p.m. EST (12/11/12):  The NYPD has released a surveillance video of the suspected gunman in the execution-style murder of Brandon Lincoln Woodard:  http://hinterlandgazette.com/2012/12/nypd-release-video-suspect-execution-brandon-lincoln-woodard-midtown-manhattan.html

UPDATED 8:52 a.m. ET (12/12/12) NY Post:   “The assassin escaped in a getaway car. Cops early this morning were questioning the couple who rented the car, The Post has learned, although investigators don’t believe they were driving it — but they are looking at the possibility they may have loaned it to someone who then used it in the crime.”