Detectives in the Bronx made another arrest in last week’s deadly stray bullet shooting that claimed the life of a 16-year-old girl.
Police apprehended on Monday a 13-year-old boy accused of providing the gun used in the May 12 shooting that killed Evette Jeffrey in a crime that shocked and horrified the city.
According to sources with immediate knowledge of the investigation, the 13-year-old suspect — whose name was withheld due to his age — was charged at approximately 8:25 a.m. on May 19 after being tracked to a family friend’s house by the NYPD Fugitive Task Force.
He has been hit with a slew of charges, including two counts of murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds, and criminal possession of a firearm in a sensitive location.
Sources close to the investigation said he will likely be tried as a juvenile.
The 13-year-old suspect is accused of handing the weapon to a 14-year-old boy after a friend was punched outside of Bronx Career and College Preparatory High School during a schoolyard fight.
NYPD Chief Detectives Joseph Kenny said the brawl involved between members of the Creep on Davidson gang and Forest Over Everything gang, the latter of which he says has 16 members listed in the department’s controversial gang database.
During the fight, cops said, the 14-year-old suspect opened fire with the gun he had been provided. A bullet went astray and struck Jeffrey in the head, killing her. Her heartbroken family laid the girl, who aspired to be a nurse, to rest over the weekend.
The 14-year-old shooter was caught on May 14 while attempting to flee the borough in a taxi, cops said.
“As the perpetrator attempted to enter a taxi, he realized the presence of police and tried to flee the scene, but our officers moved in quickly and apprehended him without further incident,” Chief Kenny said last week. “Our investigators never stopped working throughout the night, gathering evidence, building a case, and tracking down the suspect.”
His 13-year-old counterpart lasted a few more days on the run but was ultimately brought to justice on Monday. Jeffrey’s uncle Jose Sanchez told amNewYork that the arrest has brought him comfort.
“It brings me comfort to know that they’re not looking past this case, that they’re actively looking to catch and prosecute the offenders, the offenders that did this, they need to be held accountable. And it just goes to show, with the right drive, this is something that can happen in every case that with the right team, with the right drive, with the right amount of resources,” Sanchez said. “These are the type of things that people will not get away with but it brings me, it brings me comfort.”
Sanchez went on to say that he thanked the Mayor and the community as a whole for their support during the last week as they attempt to come to terms with the profound loss.
“We’re devastated, we are heartbroken,” Sanchez added.
Meanwhile, the family of the young victim says they are working to keep her memory alive.
“Evette Jeffrey was and still is a shining beacon of kindness, love, and unity for our family and the community around her,” another uncle, James Serrano, said.
