A second teenager, a 13-year-old boy, has been brought into police custody in connection with the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Evette Jeffrey in the Bronx, NBC New York reports. According to law enforcement sources, the young suspect is facing several charges related to the tragedy last Monday, where gunfire erupted in a schoolyard near the Bronx Latin school building, resulting in Jeffrey's death.
The arrest of the 13-year-old follows the earlier apprehension of a 14-year-old boy by U.S. Marshals working with the NYPD. As reported by NBC New York, the older teen is facing two counts of second-degree murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, and weapon possession. This string of violence is believed to have stemmed from a confrontation between two gangs, which escalated when a firearm was handed to one of the participants and shots were fired into the crowd.
The younger teen was located at a family friend’s home two blocks from the murder scene and was taken into custody. As per details obtained by NY Daily News, although charges have not yet been filed against the 13-year-old, investigators had been pursuing him since learning he provided the firearm that led to Jeffrey's untimely death.
The authorities suggest that Jeffrey, a student at Morris Academy, was an accidental casualty with NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny indicating she was caught in the crossfire. "The victim was not involved," Kenny told NY Daily News, "She was an innocent bystander who was simply trying to take cover behind a brick wall and was struck in the head by one of the rounds."
Following the incident, a heart-wrenching plea came from Jeffrey's family, calling for an end to the violence that robbed them of their loved one. "Stop killing each other. Innocent kids are dying. It’s not right," an aunt of Jeffrey lamented as per reports by NBC New York.
