Boy, 13, busted in stray bullet NYC shooting death of Yonkers man in the Bronx: cops
A 13-year-old boy was busted this week in the shooting death of an innocent 28-year-old man who was simply meeting his out-of-town friend in the Bronx late last month, cops said Wednesday.
The young teen turned himself in Tuesday afternoon to face charges of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and criminal use of a firearm in the broad-daylight April 23 shooting death of Daoud Marji, a 28-year-old plumber's apprentice from Yonkers, police said.
Daoud was not the intended target, nor was a 33-year-old woman who was struck in the hip and wounded in the fray, according to law enforcement sources.
6 A 13-year-old boy was charged with second-degree murder in the April 23 shooting that took the life of Daoud Marji, 28, cops said.
Peter Gerber
6 Daoud, a plumber's apprentice from Yonkers, was meeting up with an out-of-town pal at University Avenue and West Kingsbridge Road when he was fatally shot in the head.
The motive for the deadly violence – and the target of the boy's gunfire – were not immediately known.
Daoud was meeting up with a pal from Detroit at University Avenue and West Kingsbridge Road just before 5 p.m. when bullets flew – with a single round striking him in the head, according to cops and his father.
He was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he clung to life but ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
Daoud's dad Saed Marji, 56, previously told The Post he encouraged his son not to travel to the Bronx, because he heard the area was bad.
He was heartbroken when his son's pal called him with the shattering news.
6 Daoud's dad Saed Marji, 56, said he had encouraged his son not to travel to the Bronx.
TOMAS E. GASTON
'I'm a strong man, but I'm shocked. I have to take care of my family. My wife, she's very bad.'
'What am I going to do? He was my blood,' the heartbroken dad added.
The alleged teen shooter's arrest came just hours after Commissioner Jessica Tisch bashed policies such as 'Raise the Age' initiatives which she said made it 'basically a consequence-free environment for kids committing crimes.'
6 'What am I going to do? He was my blood,' Daoud's heartbroken dad said.
'We changed the all the laws as they relate to how we deal with youth in our criminal justice system in 2019, and since then, we have seen an absolute explosion of youth violence, both youth as the perps and youth as the victims,' the top cop said on FOX 5's Good Day New York Tuesday morning.
'Kids commit crimes against other kids. And it is definitely something, an area where we need to re-look at the laws that were passed in 2019 and consider some major changes.'
'It's a bigger problem now,' Tisch added. 'There are more young people that we are finding with guns as the trigger-pullers.'
6 Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said youth violence has become a 'bigger problem' in recent years.
Kyle Mazza/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
The tragic killing also marked the second time in as many days that an innocent New Yorker was slain in random gun violence on the city's streets.
A trailblazing Harlem bodega owner and community fixture — Excenia Mette, 61 — was also fatally shot in the head less than 24 hours earlier when she ran outside to check on her grandson.
Police believe Ricky Shelby, 23, shot Mette by mistake as he exchanged bullets with Darious Smith, also 23, around 10:20 p.m. April 22 near West 113th Street and Lenox Avenue, according to sources.
6 Daoud marked the second innocent bystander fatally shot in the Big Apple in as many days.
Peter Gerber
Shelby was arraigned on second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, and criminal possession of a weapon charges and ordered held without bail by a Manhattan judge.
Smith, who was arrested nearby with a gunshot wound to his foot, faces an attempted murder charge and also remains in jail without bail.
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