NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — The NYPD arrested and charged a man in connection to a shooting last year that left a 15-year-old boy from Brooklyn dead—after extraditing him from Panama, where he was hiding out.
Leopoldo Nash Montoya, 18, was arrested at 11 p.m. on Thursday following his return to New York City and charged with second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, first-degree attempted gang assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and third-degree assault.
While police listed Nash Montoya’s address as one of NYCHA’s Marlboro Houses buildings in Gravesend, police tracked the suspected shooter to Panama where he was living with relatives. He had been identified as a suspect less than a week after the shooting, but could not be found.
The shooting happened July 17, 2023 in Bensonhurst. Fifteen-year-old Foridun Maulonou, who lived in the neighborhood, was discovered with a gunshot wound to the back about a half-block from the shooting site, where he collapsed after being hit.
Two rival groups had argued after summer school and agreed to return for a fistfight, which Maulonou reluctantly joined to support his friends who were challenged.
Seven shots were fired among the group of teens at about 1 p.m. as they were gathered outside a grocery store at 63rd Street and 20th Avenue.
Police said that the 15-year-old was not the intended target.
Maulonou was taken to Maimonides Medical Center where he succumbed to his injuries the next morning.
Friends and family described him as a good kid, and Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Edward Caban attended his funeral.