NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A man was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison in connection with a shooting that wounded a 5-year-old girl at a vigil for a gun violence victim in the Bronx in 2023.
According to court documents, Austin Morrishow, 27, and his co-defendant, Curtis White, 28, both from the Bronx, were gathered on a residential sidewalk in the Bronx on June 20, 2023, attending a sidewalk vigil for someone who was killed by gunfire the day before.
After a nearby idling car backfired, the vigil attendees scattered, and Morrishow took cover behind a parked vehicle. He and White then proceeded to shoot at the car that backfired and nearby vehicles whose drivers were fleeing the gunfire.
One of the shots fired by Morrishow hit a 5-year-old-girl sitting in the backseat of one of the cars in the chest, narrowly missing her organs. Morrishow and White immediately fled the scene.
The vehicle, with bullet holes, that the 5-year-old girl was inside of during the shooting.Department of Justice
Morrishow was convicted of illegally possessing ammunition in connection with the shooting. He was not permitted to possess ammo because of a prior federal conviction for using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a narcotics conspiracy. He was serving a term of supervised release for the previous federal conviction at the time of the shooting.
"Morrishow's brazen acts left a bullet in a 5-year-old child's chest," U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement. "Instead of accepting responsibility, Morrishow remained a fugitive for eight months. Today's sentence sends an important message: if you threaten the lives of innocent New Yorkers through senseless gun violence, we will find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law."
Besides the prison time, Morrisshow, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution to the victim of the shooting. White, was previously sentenced to 51 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and was also ordered to pay restitution to the victim of the shooting.
