Police have arrested a 14-year-old boy accused of firing the stray bullet that fatally struck 16-year-old Evette Selena Jeffrey in the head outside a Bronx high school on Monday — a violent act that has left a family shattered and a community in mourning.
Sources say members of the NYPD’s Fugitive Task Force apprehended the teenager on Tuesday morning, a day after the shooting rocked the Morrisania neighborhood. Police officials are expected to release further details about the arrest later this week.
The fatal gunfire erupted just after 5 p.m. Monday, May 12, near Bronx Career and College Preparatory High School at the corner of Home Street and Tinton Avenue. According to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, the gunfire stemmed from a fight that broke out among a group of teens near a school walkway.
“A fight breaks out between a group of youths,” Tisch said at a press conference Monday night. Amid the chaos, she said, a gun was handed to the 14-year-old suspect, who allegedly fired a shot that missed its target and struck Jeffrey in the head.
“Our victim is seen riding from the schoolyard toward the walkway on a scooter,” Tisch explained, noting that Jeffrey was not part of the fight. “When the shots are fired, our victim, whom we believe to be an unintended target, is struck, and she immediately falls to the ground.”
Officers from the 42nd Precinct responded to ShotSpotter alerts and multiple 911 calls. EMS rushed Jeffrey to Lincoln Hospital, where she was pronounced dead a short time later.
The shooting has left Jeffrey’s family reeling. Outside their apartment on Tuesday, her grandmother held onto the doorframe and fought back tears.
“She was a typical teenage girl,” the grieving grandmother told the Bronx Times, declining to give her name. “No matter what I say, she is not coming back.”
Jeffrey’s uncle, Jose Sanchez, said the teen had dreams of one day helping others.
“She wanted to be a nurse. She wanted to work to help her community, the community she comes from,” Sanchez said.
He shared that Jeffrey had been celebrating her one-year anniversary with her boyfriend earlier that day. “She just made one year with her boyfriend, and they actually were coming back — he took her out to eat to celebrate one year together, and they went to that park to visit some of their friends, and she was riding around on her scooter while he was talking to a couple of friends,” he said. “She was completely oblivious as to what was going on.”
Sanchez described the area as filled with hard-working families but noted that neighborhood children often fall victim to dangerous influences.
“They get exposed to a lot of the bad things,” he said. “So, just to give you an idea, Evette would tell us from time to time that just walking to the store could be a little dangerous for her. People would hang out in front of the stores, and they would, you know, mock her, bully her, and not her personally, just everyone. It’s just a very dangerous neighborhood.”
The tragic shooting drew the attention of city leaders. Mayor Eric Adams visited the scene Monday night, where he met with concerned parents and residents who called for more after-school programs and a stronger police presence.
“We just wanted to come here out to this community, and when you lose a child like this, we know that we have an obligation to create safe environments for young people, and that is what we try to do every day,” Adams said. “To lose a young child, it really impacts us.”
Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson said the victim’s mother was inconsolable at the hospital and urged New Yorkers to keep the family in their prayers.
Christian Murray contributed to this article
