Alleged gang members sentenced for killing of teen outside of school: DA
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11) — Three alleged gang members were sentenced in connection with the fatal shooting of a teenager outside of a school in Midwood, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced Thursday.
The shooting happened around 2:40 p.m. outside the Urban Dove Charter School on East 21st Street on April 29, 2021.
More Local News
Prosecutors say Malachi Simms, 19, and Quran Smith, 20, fatally shot Devonte Lewis, 17, as he was leaving the school.
The third defendant, Frantzy Alexandre, 20, reportedly passed a gun to Simms before the shooting.
The three defendants allegedly belonged to the Folk No Love City gang, while Lewis allegedly belonged to the Bloodhound Brims, a rival gang, prosecutors say.
Lewis, who was shot in the stomach, was taken to Kings County Hospital, where he died, prosecutors said.
More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State
'These defendants, who were just 15 and 16 years old at the time, laid in wait and opened fire at their target outside a school, killing him and ruining their own entire futures,' said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. 'We vigorously prosecute and hold responsible gang members who engage in gun violence, which is part of the reason Brooklyn is experiencing a dramatic reduction in shootings. My thoughts today are with Devonte Lewis's heartbroken mother and loved ones.'
Alexandre was sentenced to 10 years in prison for manslaughter. Simms was sentenced to 14 years to life in prison. Smith was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.
Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
Ben Mitchell is a digital content producer from Vermont who has covered both local and international news since 2021. He joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of his work here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
L.A. law enforcement's treatment of journalists during protests is once again under scrutiny
Abraham Márquez, a reporter with the nonprofit investigative news startup Southlander, was filming a tense standoff between Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies and immigrant rights protesters in Paramount on Saturday night when he saw a deputy aim a "less-lethal" launcher in his direction. Sensing a confrontation, Márquez said, he raised his press credential and "kept yelling press, press, press,' even as he turned and began running in the opposite direction. He barely made it a few feet before he felt a stinging pain as first one foam round, then another slammed into his buttocks and his back. "They just unloaded," he said of the deputies. He was nearly struck again a short time later, when deputies riding by in an armored vehicle sprayed foam rounds into a gas station parking lot where Márquez and a KTLA-TV news crew had sought cover, he said. He was shaken, but said that he felt compelled to keep reporting. 'I got hit and whatnot but I'm glad I was there to document it," he said. The incident was one of dozens in which journalists have been shot with less-lethal police rounds, tear-gassed, shoved and detained while chronicling the ongoing civil unrest and military intervention in the nation's second-largest city, according to interviews and video footage reviewed by The Times. The police actions have drawn angry condemnation from public officials and 1st Amendment advocates. There have been multiple reported instances of reporters not only being struck by projectiles, but also having their bags searched, being threatened with arrest and getting blocked from areas where they had a right under state law to observe police activity. Among those hit by police projectiles were several Times reporters in the course of covering protests in downtown L.A. over the past few days. The LAPD and L.A. County Sheriff's Department have faced criticism and lawsuits over their treatment of news media during past crises, but some covering the recent events say the situation has only gotten worse with the inflammatory anti-media messaging coming from the Trump White House. "The price for free speech should not be this high," said Arturo Carmona, president and publisher of Caló News, a news site that covers issues that matter to English-speaking Latinos. "Several of our reporters, several of whom are women of color, have been harassed and attacked by law enforcement." In one high-profile case, a CNN reporter was briefly detained by officers while doing a live on-air segment. In another, Australian TV news reporter Lauren Tomasi was shot in the leg by a less-lethal round by an riot gear-clad officer moments after she wrapped up a live on-air segment. The incident became an international affair, with Australian Prime Minister Tony Albanese calling it "horrific." L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said it "sends a terrible message," and several city councilmembers referenced it while grilling LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell on Tuesday about his department's response to the protests. In a statement, the Sheriff's Department said it was reviewing video footage from several incidents involving the news media to determine whether any of its deputies were involved. The department said it is "committed to maintaining an open and transparent relationship with the media and ensuring that journalists can safely perform their duties, especially during protests, acts of civil disobedience, and public gatherings." "Our goal is to support press freedom while upholding public safety and operational integrity," the statement said. LAPD Deputy Chief Michael Rimkunas said that two of the roughly 15 complaints the department was investigating as of Tuesday involved possible mistreatment of journalists — a number that is expected to grow in the coming days and weeks. Rimkunas said the department decided to launch an investigation of the Tomasi incident on its own, but has since been in contact with the Australian consulate. A coalition of 27 press and civil liberties advocacy groups wrote to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday 'to express alarm that federal officers may have violated the First Amendment rights of journalists covering recent protests and unrest related to immigration enforcement in the Los Angeles area.' Multiple journalists who covered the protests told The Times that officers and deputies used physical force or the threat of arrest to remove them from areas where they have a right to be. In doing so, the journalists said, police were ignoring protections established by state law for journalists covering protests, as well as their own departments' policies adopted after mass protests after George Floyd's murder in 2020 and over the clearance of a homeless encampment in Echo Park in 2021. On Saturday, journalist Ben Camacho was documenting the scene in Paramount, where images of people vandalizing and burning cars dominated the nightly newscasts. Wearing his press pass and with a camera hanging around his neck, he watched in shock as law enforcement opened fire on the crowd with less-lethal munitions, striking Nick Stern, a British news photographer, who crumbled to the ground in front of him. After helping carry Stern to safety, Camacho said he too was struck by a round in the kneecap. "I start to screaming pretty much at the top of my lungs," he said. 'It was like a sledgehammer." He noted that many people are working on freelance contracts that don't offer medical insurance, and said officers sometimes brush aside reporters with credentials from smaller independent outlets, which have an important role in monitoring events on the ground. Some police officials — who were not authorized to speak publicly — said officers try their best to accommodate reporters, but the situation on the street involves split-second decisions in a chaotic environment where they find themselves being attacked. They also contend that journalists from newer outlets or those who primarily post on social media act in adversarial or confrontational ways toward officers. Los Angeles Press Club Press Rights Chair Adam Rose said he has been collecting examples of officers from local, state and federal agencies violating the rights of journalists — seemingly ignoring the lessons learned and promises made the wake of past protests. Rose said many of the incidents were documented in videos that journalists themselves posted on social media. As of Wednesday morning, the tally was 43 and counting. The mistreatment of journalists at the recent protests are part of a "history of ugly treatment by police," Rose said, which included the 1970 killing of one of the city's leading Latino media voices, Ruben Salazar, who had been covering a Chicano rights protest when he was struck by a tear-gas canister fired by a sheriff's deputy. Even in cases where police abuses are well-documented on video, discipline of the offending officers is rare, Rose said. With plunging revenues leading to the downsizing of many legacy newsrooms, a new generation of citizen journalists has taken a vital role in covering communities across the country — their reporting is as protected as their mainstream counterparts, he said. "The reality is police are not the ones who're allowed to decide who is press,' he said. Some larger news companies have taken to hiring protective details for their reporters in the field, largely in response to aggressive crowds. On Saturday, L.A. Daily News reporter Ryanne Mena was struck in the head by a projectile fired by law enforcement during a demonstration in Paramount. She wasn't sure whether it was a tear gas canister or less-lethal munition, but said she later sought medical treatment and was diagnosed with a concussion. The day before she was hit in the thigh by another projectile while reporting downtown outside the jail, she said. Covering a few prior protests had taught her to always be mindful of her surroundings and to "never have my back toward anyone with a weapon." 'It's still kind of unbelievable that that happened," she said of her concussion. "It's unacceptable that that happened that other journalists were targeted.' Times staff writers Connor Sheets and David Zahniser contributed to this report. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Federal agencies bust major drug ring in Newark
NEWARK, N.J. (PIX11) — Approximately 7,000 grams of fentanyl, heroin, and crack cocaine are now off the streets of New Jersey, thanks to a major federal drug bust. Investigators said the drug ring operated out of a senior housing complex, leaving residents terrified for their safety. More Local News 'Over the past year, the Bloods gang has terrorized the Kretchmer Homes public housing complex in Newark, New Jersey, using violence and fear to operate their drug trafficking business,' said Cheryl Ortiz, a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration. More than two dozen alleged gang members are charged with drug trafficking and weapons offenses. The investigation was carried out by the FBI, U.S. Attorney's Office, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 'This operation…removed numerous firearms and approximately 7,000 grams of heroin and fentanyl from our streets,' said Ortiz. 'That's enough fentanyl to kill 500,000 people.' Investigators claim the suspects used clever packaging to make their product seem less destructive. 'We allege that the market fentanyl, the deadliest drug in our country, and cocaine, the most addictive drug in our country, by stamping wrappers with names like 'Scarface,' 'Coco Puffs,' [and] 'Purple Rain' to make the content inside the package less scary and more attractive. More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba said the raid was the result of a long-running investigation that used a variety of investigative techniques. 'Court-authorized wiretaps, controlled purchases by informants and undercover officers, hundreds of hours of surveillance, and search warrants on over a dozen locations in the Garden State,' said Habba. The defendants are each facing 10-year mandatory minimum sentences, with the possibility of up to life in prison. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Man detained by ICE was already scheduled to leave, advocates say
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Grand Rapids immigration advocates are seeking the release of a man who they say was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement only days before he was scheduled to leave the country. Movimiento Cosecha GR and GR Rapid Response to ICE say Carlos Menjivar is at the Calhoun County Correctional Facility, which is an ICE holding facility. ICE did not immediately confirm that to News 8 Wednesday. The advocacy groups say Menjivar was detained June 4 when he went for what they called a 'routine check-in' at the office for the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program on Michigan Street NE near College Avenue in Grand Rapids. ISAP is an ICE program in which people are under supervision while their immigration cases make their way through the system, which can take years. Through it, contracted case managers can keep ICE agents up to date on cases and whether people are abiding by the conditions of their release, explains. '(Menjivar) was asked to come to this ISAP office with his paperwork, so his passport, and approve of them leaving (the United States). They had agreed, actually verbally agreed, with the ISAP office to departure this Saturday,' Movimiento Cosecha organizer Gema Lowe said at a Wednesday news conference. She said ISAP workers were supposed to check the paperwork and plane tickets for their return to Menjivar's native El Salvador. Instead, she said, he was 'arbitrarily' detained and ICE now has his and his family's passports. 'This family, they have been compliant to everything Immigration has asked them since they came to this country as refugees in 2017,' Lowe said. She argued that asking Menjivar to report to the ISAP office was a 'trap.' At the news conference, one of Menjivar's children held a sign that read, 'Te amamos, Papa,' or 'We love you, Dad,' in Spanish. ICE did not immediately provide answers after Target 8 sought information about Menjivar's status and details about how frequently people are detained at ISAP check-ins. GR Rapid Response to ICE organizer Jeff Smith suggested between eight and 10 people were detained at the ISAP office June 4. It was unclear how he reached that count. ICE has not provided any information. Immigration advocates went to the ISAP office that day and Grand Rapids police were called to ask them to leave. Smith said everyone who went to an ISAP appointment after the advocates arrived was allowed to leave as expected. Smith said the group is now offering to send advocates with people when they have appointments. Smith said advocates are calling for Menjivar to be released in time for the family's scheduled departure Saturday, that the passports be returned to the family for that travel and that ICE documentation note he left voluntarily. They have also asked U.S. senators and representatives to intervene. In the meantime, Menjivar's wife and three children are seeking sanctuary at Fountain Street Church, a nondenominational Christian church in downtown Grand Rapids, the advocates say. 'When the residents of our community are under attack or under threat, our doors are open to provide shelter and sanctuary,' Rev. Nathan Dannison, the pastor at Fountain Street Church, said. 'Our beliefs here at Fountain Street compel us to act.' Smith called on other Grand Rapids faith organizations to offer themselves up as sanctuaries. 'We're asking the public to see what's happening. This is the faces that they are brave enough to show and say, 'We're here,'' Lowe said. 'Even though they did they did everything they were asked to, they've still been separated. It's structural violence.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
