Community leaders, residents and elected officials gathered in the courtyard of Mitchel Houses in Mott Haven to mourn the loss of 78-year-old Edgar Spence, who was killed by a stray bullet last Thursday —and to demand accountability.
The vigil drew Council Member Elsie Encarnación, NYPD officials, Guns Down Life Up, and representatives from Public Advocate Jumaane Williams’ and Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark’s offices, along with residents from Mitchel Houses and nearby NYCHA developments.
As Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” played, mourners decorated the bench where Spence had been sitting when he was shot, covering it with flowers, candles, and garlands.
At the vigil, activist Rev. Kevin McCall pointed to a string of recent gang-related shootings that have claimed the lives of bystanders, including 7-month-old Kaori Patterson-Moore in Brooklyn and 15-year-old Jaden Pierre in Queens.
“We have to demand accountability—we have to demand where these guns are coming from,” McCall said.
According to police, the shooting occurred around 10:25 a.m. on April 16 at Mitchel Houses, located at 300 East 138th Street, and is believed to be gang-related.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said members of the ABG gang —short for “Anybody Gets It”— were gathered for a vigil for a gang member who died in 2023. Mitchel Houses is considered ABG territory.
During the gathering, a large group affiliated with the Nine Racks Crips entered the area and confronted ABG members. When gunfire erupted, one group fired into the NYCHA development and the other returned fire. Spence, 78, was sitting nearby.
“He’s sitting outside with his brother, eating and drinking, and he catches one to the chest, hits his heart, pierces his aorta, he bleeds internally and dies,” Kenny said.
Police have identified two shooters involved. Eight shots were fired in total.
“It could be as simple as mistaken identity, but you’re in Mitchel, that’s your area. When you see a group of 30 people walking in, they think it’s on, so they pull out and start shooting at the group, and then they shoot back, so that it’s quite common for people to be mistaken as the ops,” Kenny said.
“And unfortunately, you get shot. And then you got this poor guy sitting out there drinking a beer, and he catches one to the chest,” he added.
Police are still pulling and reviewing surveillance video. They are submitting it to facial recognition in an attempt to identify those involved. Both groups are subsets of Crips.
“I had to learn to leave the neighborhood”
Judy Brandon, 71, who lived in Mitchel Houses until 2002, returned to the neighborhood for the vigil. She still volunteers at a nearby senior center and said she remained close with Spence.
“Our last words to one another were ‘I love you,’ and he said he loved me,” Brandon said. “I used to tease him and say, ‘You the man,’ and he’d give me this big, wide grin.”
Brandon said the neighborhood has changed significantly since she left.
“I don’t sit out at night anymore,” she said. “I stopped about 15 years ago because of things like this. Sometimes you hear gunshots in the community—it might be a few blocks away.”
“I had to learn to leave the neighborhood and not come in the daytime,” she added.
Additional reporting by Dean Moses.
Reach Marina Samuel at msamuel@schnepsmedia.com. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
