Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN/AP) - Two teenage boys were indicted Tuesday in the shooting death of a 3-year-old who was killed while riding his tricycle outside his Buffalo home last week, officials said. The toddler's 7-year-old sister was wounded.
"Literally, babies killing babies," Mayor Byron Brown said as city leaders announced the charges against a 14-year-old and 16-year-old at a late afternoon news conference.
The two teen males were arraigned late Tuesday afternoon before Youth Part Judge Brenda Freedman, and have each been indicted on the following charges:
- One count of Murder in the Second Degree (Class “A-I” felony);
- One count of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree (Class “B” violent felony);
- One count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (Class “C” violent felony);
- One count of Assault in the Second Degree (Class “D” felony).
The Erie County District Attorney's Office will not be releasing the names of the accused due to their age.
On the evening of Friday, June 21 at approximately 9:30 p.m., Buffalo Police responded to a reported shooting on Domedion Avenue near Genesee Street in the City of Buffalo. Two children were hit by gunfire while playing outside.
One victim, 3-year-old Ramone Carter, was taken in a police patrol vehicle to Erie County Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The second victim, his 7-year-old sister, was grazed by a bullet. She was taken by ambulance to Oishei Children’s Hospital, where she was treated for an injury to her back.
It is alleged that the adolescent offender and juvenile offender, while acting in concert with one another, each fired an illegal gun - a pistol and a revolver - with the intent to cause the death of another person, which resulted in the murder of the toddler.
The adolescent offender and juvenile offender are also accused of causing physical injury to the injured child. The investigation determined that both the deceased victim and the surviving victim were innocent bystanders, and not the intended target of the shooting.
The adolescent offender and the juvenile offender are scheduled to return on Wednesday, July 24 at 9 a.m. ET for a pre-trial conference. Both are being held without bail in the custody of the Erie County Youth Services Center.
If convicted of the highest charge, the adolescent offender faces a maximum sentence of 25 years-to-life of incarceration. If convicted of the highest charge, the juvenile offender faces a maximum sentence of 15 years-to-life of incarceration.
Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia credited the cooperation of witnesses in leading police to the suspects, recalling how officers arriving on the scene had rushed Ramone to the hospital themselves in the hope of saving him.
"They were able to get that poor baby in a police car, race the baby to (Erie County Medical Center) to try to give him a fighting chance," Gramaglia said. "Unfortunately, we all know that that wasn’t the outcome. The baby was declared dead at the hospital."
Keane declined to comment on a possible motive when asked whether the shootings may have been gang-related.
"It appeared that they were targeting someone else," Brown said. "But the fact that these children had guns and were so willing to use them indiscriminately is what brings us to this point today."