NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Twelve people, including four minors, have been charged in the fatal shootings of a 13-year-old and 16-year-old, the non-fatal shooting of two men and a series of car jackings and robberies across the Bronx.
Jahlil Califf, 16, and Justin Baez, 18, were charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of 13-year-old Jaryan Elliot on July 11 outside Angels Cafe on East 187th Street.
Meanwhile, Alec McFarlane, 16, and Tyquan Howard, 16, were charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of 16-year-old Ramon Gil-Medrano, who was sitting in a livery cab driving on East 178th Street on the same day.
The four teenagers and eight others —Marcus Odom, 16, Mekhi Williams, 20, Hasib Cutts, 19, Jonathan Westbury, 18, Elyesha Cook, 21, Tyshawn McClure, 20, Damian James, 20, and Dante Thomas, 21 — are also facing weapon possession charges along with various conspiracy charges, grand larceny and first, second and third-degree robbery.
According to Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, the group committed a number of crimes as part of a street gang between May 24 and July 23.
“These defendants are charged in a string of violent crimes, culminating in the murders of two boys, that contributed to a brutal summer,” said District Attorney Clark. “These indictments are an assurance to the people of the Bronx that we will hold accountable anyone who brings gunfire to our streets. But these indictments are also a tragic chronicle of a lost generation: boys and young men who turned to guns, and two lives were taken and 14 lives have been squandered. We must do something to change the course of our young people who gravitate to gangs so that they do not wind up committing serious crimes. We are experiencing an utter catastrophe in the Bronx.”
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Clark noted that the majority of victims were members of two rival neighborhood crews.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea highlighted the indictment as yet another way the department is working to stop violent crime throughout New York City.
“This is yet another case illustrating the endless stream of guns in our city and their devastating impact on victims’ lives. Each gun seized tells the story of kids and others gunned down in the street, of mothers and loved ones in mourning, and of neighborhoods traumatized,” he said in a statement. “We remain thankful today for the courage and tenacity of our NYPD investigators and our partners in the Bronx district attorney’s office for their ceaseless commitment to public safety and for meeting this violence with meaningful consequences.”
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