14 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARCH 29, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Jamaica’s Miya Bass keeps her
dream of winning ‘The Voice’ alive
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
For Queens’ Miya Bass, competing
on NBC’s “Th e Voice” has
been quite an incredible ride —
and the season has barely started.
A Jamaica native, 29-year-old
Bass was following in her family’s
footsteps and training to become
a full-time NYPD offi cer. In her
fi nal semester, however, she made
a bold decision: leave the legacy
behind and pursue a career in
music.
During her career, Bass was
a dance and music instructor
at an arts program for
the Sports and Arts School
Foundation and later a program
director for the New York
Junior Tennis League. In the
past year, Bass quit her job
to sing with Funktion11, an
11-piece funk band, while
also returning to college,
and eventually auditioning
for the NBC hit show
“Th e Voice.”
Following her blind
audition, where she performed
“Issues” by Julia
Michaels, Bass landed a
spot on Team Adam, led
by Adam Levine, frontman
for the Grammywinning
band Maroon 5.
Once the blind auditions
were completed, she was
moving on to the Battle
Rounds, where her fate
as a contestant was left
in the open.
On the Monday, March 26, episode
of “Th e Voice,” Bass went
head-to-head in the Battle Round
with her teammate Drew Cole,
singing a duet of Bob Dylan’s
“Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” It
was in this round that Bass and
Cole would be singing to save their
spot on Levine’s team.
“I loved the song choice,” Bass
said. “I love singing any classic,
and the arrangement fi t well with
my style. I really enjoyed
singing it.”
However, following
the performance,
Levine ultimately
decided
that Cole was the
winner of the battle.
Bass, grateful
for her time on the show, thought
her time was up.
However, she didn’t predict
what happened next: Alicia Keys,
R&B sensation and leader of Team
Alicia, stole Bass from Team
Adam, securing her spot as a contestant
on the show.
“I thought I was at the end of my
road. It was a great opportunity,”
Bass said. “It was a shocker when
Alicia stole me. I’m so appreciative
for the opportunity to continue
with the show.”
Now that she’s on Team Alicia,
Bass will have knowledge from two
artists who have two very diff erent
sounds, but ultimately have the
same passion for their craft .
“I think they’ll be similar overall
because of their artistry. Th ey’re
both amazing,” Bass said. “I think
the diff erences in their coaching
styles will come down to their
musicality. Th ey are in very diff erent
genres, and Alicia will be able
to off er her style in R&B.”
Even though she won’t be on
Team Adam anymore, she is taking
what she’s learned under
him on her new journey on
Team Alicia, especially learning
to stay true to yourself
while singing.
“I’ve learned to be myself,
no matter what song is selected
for me,” Bass said. “Whenever
I’m performing by myself or
someone else, it’s important to be
yourself.”
Ozone Park imam killer
convicted; may get life
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com / @robbpoz
Jurors convicted a Brooklyn man last week of gunning
down an Ozone Park imam and his associate as they
walked home from a mosque in August of 2016.
Oscar Morel, 37, was found guilty on March 23 of fi rst- and
second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon
following a three-week trial, Queens District Attorney
Richard A. Brown. Morel faces life in prison without the possibility
of parole when he is sentenced on April 18.
Morel shot and killed Imam Maulana Akonjee, 55, and
a friend, Th ara Uddin, 64, as they walked through Ozone
Park following prayers at the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid
Mosque on the aft ernoon of Aug. 13, 2016. Th e shocking
crime, committed in broad daylight on a Saturday,
outraged the Bangladeshi community in south Queens,
prompting for calls that the homicide be considered a hate
crime.
“Th is was a senseless act of gun violence in the middle
of the aft ernoon and carried out in a close-knit neighborhood
fi lled with families and children,” Brown said in
a March 23 statement. “Th e defendant’s actions caused
immeasurable grief — not only to the victims’ families, but
the slaying struck at the heart of the Muslim community of
Queens. I am hopeful today’s verdict will bring some closure
to the family and many friends of the two men killed.”
Law enforcement sources said Akonjee and Uddin had
just concluded prayers at the mosque and were walking
at the intersection of Liberty Avenue and 79th Street just
before 2 p.m. on Aug. 13, 2016. Th ere, they were confronted
by Morel, who pointed a .38-caliber revolver at their
heads and began fi ring.
Akonjee was hit four times in the head and body, while
Uddin was struck in the head. Video cameras caught footage
of Morel exiting from an SUV and approaching the
two men, then moments later running back to the vehicle
and fl eeing the scene.
Offi cers from the 106th Precinct and EMS units rushed
to the scene. Akonjee and Uddin were rushed to Jamaica
Hospital, where they later died.
A few minutes aft er the murder, Brown said, Morel
struck a bicyclist with his vehicle at the intersection of
Pitkin and Pine Avenues in City Line, Brooklyn. Nearby
security cameras again spotted Morel fl eeing the scene following
the collision.
Police said that a good Samaritan, who saw the incident,
followed Morel in his own automobile to get the license
plate, which was subsequently presented to police.
Cops later located the vehicle in East New York,
Brooklyn, staked it out and saw Morel approach and enter
it at about 10 p.m. the following evening, Aug. 14. He was
subsequently taken into custody aft er trying to ram police
vehicles.
Detectives also searched Morel’s apartment, aft er obtaining
a warrant, and found the .38-caliber gun used in the
double homicide hidden behind a kitchen wall.
Another milestone for new hotel at former TWA terminal at JFK
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
the north tower. Once it is completed,
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
the wall will make the TWA
Hotel home to some of the quietest
Crews have topped out the
hotel rooms in the world.
long-awaited TWA Flight Center
Headed by MCR and Morse
hotel at JFK Airport.
Development, the $265 million
Since the project broke ground in
project aims to recapture when the
December 2017, the second hotel
TWA Flight Center was built in
tower has been fully topped out
1962, reviving and rehabilitating
and a seven-layer, soundproofed
the Terminal’s iconic interiors by
glass façade is almost complete on
Charles Eames, Raymond Loewy
and Warren Platner. In addition
to featuring a TWA Museum fi lled
with vintage TWA memorabilia,
the hotel will include 505 rooms, a
rooft op pool, an observation deck,
50,000 square feet of event space,
and eight bars and restaurants.
While it was originally meant
to open this year, the hotel is now
slated to open in the spring of
2019.
Photo courtesy of New York Daily News/Bryan Pace
Oscar Morel, shown here following his arrest in August of 2016,
was convicted on March 23 of fi rst-degree murder for executing an
Ozone Park imam and an associate.
Photo: Paul Drinkwater/NBC
Photo: Max Touhey
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