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Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Youth violence has skyrocketed in NYC, top cop Jessica Tisch reveals as she blames contentious ‘Raise the Age' law
Youth violence has skyrocketed in the Big Apple over the last few years, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Tuesday — as she placed the blame on the state's contentious 'Raise the Age' law. The number of kids under the age of 18 busted with a gun increased by a whopping 136% between 2018 and 2024, the top cop said alongside Mayor Eric Adams at a crime stats briefing held at City Hall. Over the same period, Tisch said the number of underage shooters soared 192%, while the number of juvenile victims of gun violence spiked by 81%. 'I have seen enough,' Tisch said of the surging youth crime, while pointing the finger at Albany's soft-on-crime law that raised the age of criminal responsibility to 18. The NYPD couldn't immediately provide the exact numbers tied to the percentage increases cited by the commissioner. But so far in 2025, 36 — or 14% — of suspected shooters in the five boroughs have been under the age of 18, she said. And 44 shooting victims — also 14% — were under the age of 18 so far this year, according to Tisch. She said the spike was a result of Raise the Age, which was signed by then-governor – and now mayoral candidate – Andrew Cuomo on April 10, 2017, and took effect in October 2019. The law upped the age for a teen to face adult charges to 18, from the previous 16- and 17-year-old threshold. 'The idea behind this was one that we could all agree on: children should not be treated like adults in our criminal justice system,' Tisch said. 'But when the age of criminal responsibility went up, the age of criminal suspects went down.' Gangs and crews are now recruiting ever-younger members – who 'carry the guns and commit the shootings, the robberies and the assaults' – in order to evade serious consequences, according to the commissioner. 'Seriously bad things come from a consequence-free environment, and right now juveniles who commit crimes in New York City are living in a virtually consequence-free environment,' she said. Tisch's comments came a week after a 13-year-old boy was busted in the murder of an innocent 28-year-old plumber's apprentice from Yonkers who was simply meeting his out-of-town friend in the Bronx when he was shot dead. The teen turned himself in on May 27 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 bystander Daoud Marji, police said. It was part of the troubling trend outlined by Tisch that increasingly shows youngsters becoming both the perpetrators — and victims — of gun violence. Earlier in May, Evette Jeffrey, a 16-year-old girl riding her scooter near a schoolyard was shot in the head and killed by a stray bullet — which was fired by a 14-year-old who was handed a gun by a 13-year-old, according to cops. The tragic May 12 shooting stemmed from a beef between rival street gangs — Forest Over Everything and the upstart crew Kreep On Davidson — based at the Davidson Houses housing project in Morrisania, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny. 'She was an innocent bystander who was simply trying to take cover behind the brick wall and was struck in the head by one of the rounds,' Kenny said at the time about the young victim. 'The victim, Evette Jeffrey, was not involved in this dispute.' Tisch's startling comments came as she and Adams announced a more promising crime trend — a dip in shooting and murders so far this year. From January through May, the Big Apple saw the lowest number of shootings and murders in recorded history, statistics show. The city also set a record for the lowest number of shootings and murders in the month of May, the officials said. The mayor and top cop also touted the NYPD's seizure of more than 2,200 illegal firearms from the streets since the beginning of 2025.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Yahoo
Shattered grandmother of girl fatally struck by stray bullet reveals heartbreaking funeral decision: ‘She's forever 16'
A 14-year-old suspect was busted in a tragic gang-related stray-bullet shooting of a 16-year-old Bronx girl Tuesday — as her family made the heartbreaking decision to cremate her, so they can always remember her. 'We decided to have her cremated just so the family can have something,' the grieving grandmother of teen Evette Jeffrey told The Post Tuesday. 'The mom doesn't want her in the cemetery. The family doesn't want it.' 'They took her away from us. They took her away from me,' said the woman, asking only to be identified as 'grandma.' Just minutes after she spoke, a US Marshals task force picked up the suspected teen gunman near 952 Rev. James A. Polite Avenue, law enforcement sources told The Post. The teen, whose name is being withheld because of his age, was being held at the 42nd Precinct station late Tuesday and is facing murder charges, the sources said. The sources said the arrest may have been brokered by his own relatives — and said cops believe the shooting was sparked by a feud between street gangs. The beef was between the Forest Over Everything crew and an upstart gang calling itself Kreep On Davidson, based at the Davidson Houses public housing complex, the sources said. It is unclear which crew the alleged shooter belonged to. The accused killer allegedly had a scuffle with the rival gangbangers earlier in the day, which sparked the deadly encounter that left the teen girl dead hours later. Mayor Eric Adams said on X Monday night that the out-of-control 14-year-old suspect had even pulled a gun on his own mom. 'It is heartbreaking and maddening that gang violence has once again cut short the lives of two young New Yorkers,' Adams said in a separate post on Tuesday. 'A beautiful girl with so much life ahead of her and a 14-year-old suspect who could have chosen the right path.' Relatives said Evette was celebrating her one-year anniversary with her also-16-year-old boyfriend after school on Monday, and the young couple had been on a date at a Chinese buffet when they headed home and stopped at the Bronx Latin school's playground. Evette was celebrating her one-year anniversary with her also-16-year-old boyfriend after school on Monday, and the young couple had been on a date at a Chinese buffet when they headed home and stopped at the Bronx Latin school's playground. 'She was gonna go eat and then they'll be back, and I said, 'Let me know when you get there,'' her grandmother said. 'This was right after school, maybe 3 o'clock or 3:15 p.m.' Shortly after 5 p.m., Evette was riding her scooter when a brawl between a group of teens erupted into gunfire outside the Morrisania schoolyard, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters at the scene Monday night. 'I was upstairs and I heard three shots, because my window faces that way … not knowing it was her,' the grandmother said. 'You could tell they were gunshots. I heard sirens, but it didn't sound close, so I tried to reach her. 'She wasn't connected so I decided to come down and as I was getting ready to leave, that's when my neighbors came and told me,' she said. 'My neighbors came banging on the door, and I opened the door, and they said she got shot in the head. That was it.' The girl was rushed to Lincoln Hospital, where she was pronounced dead less than an hour later. 'It's so much,' her grandmother said through tears. 'I still have to go to school. They probably know because it was released last night. I still have to go. I know her friends. They are devastated.' Tisch said the violence broke out after the gun-toting teen was slugged by another boy outside 800 Home Street, which houses three schools – Dr. Richard Izquierdo Health and Science and Science Charter School, Bronx Latin and Bronx Career and College Preparatory High School. The teen who was punched then chased the group and opened fire, striking Evette, the commissioner said. 'She died here,' her grandma said. 'They were just going to revive her, but she died here.' Her family said she was her mother's only child. 'She's forever 16,' the girl's grandmother said. 'That's it.' The senseless shooting, allegedly at the hands of a baby-faced thug, sparked outrage from relatives and neighbors. 'This is crazy. This is a kid who had no business with a gun,' Evette's aunt said. 'He had a gun, he was shooting at someone, and he is only 14. They don't care who they hurt. They don't care who they kill. 'Yes, I am angry because of him, my niece is no longer here, and this is not right,' she added. 'Kids killing kids.' One local shook his head over the tragedy. 'What happened to the days when you fight with your fists?' he asked. 'Where are they getting these guns from at such a tender age? 'Who are their role models, gangbangers? Wrong direction.' A Bronx mom whose teen daughter was friends with the slain girl blamed Adams and city officials for the fatal tragedy. 'The mayor is trash,' she said. 'I grew up with stuff like this all the time, but it's progressing, it's amplifying. They are getting younger and younger, kids killing kids. It's very disappointing.' Meanwhile, Evette's grandmother had an angry message for the alleged teen gunman who shattered her family. 'I don't forgive you,' she sobbed. 'I hold your family responsible because they should be watching you. Whoever handed you [the gun] or had it, I will never forgive you. 'They could say I'm sorry a million times, and I'll never forgive any of you.'
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Yahoo
NYPD hunting suspected 12-year-old accomplice in gang shooting that killed innocent teen girl: sources
Police are searching for a 12-year-old accomplice to the 14-year-old gangbanger accused of fatally shooting a promising teen girl at a Bronx playground. The younger thug allegedly handed the gun to the baby-faced accused shooter during the fatal encounter shortly after 5 p.m. Monday, with a stray bullet striking 16-year-old Evette Jeffrey in the head as she rode her scooter near a local school, killing her on the spot, police and sources said. The deadly dispute between rival street gangs – Forest Over Everything and the upstart crew Kreep On Davidson based at the Davidson Houses housing project in Morrisania — stemmed from a scuffle earlier in the day, sources said. It is not clear which gang the accused killer belonged to. The gun-toting teen was arrested Tuesday morning by the NYPD and a US Marshals task force while getting into a cab on Rev. James A. Polite Avenue, the sources said. Evette had been celebrating her one-year anniversary with her boyfriend at a local Chinese buffet when she was caught in the crossfire and killed, her family said. 'I don't forgive,' the girl's grieving grandmother said of the teen gunman. 'I hold your family responsible because they should be watching you. 'Whoever handed you [the gun] or had it, I will never forgive you.' This is a developing story. Please check back for more information.
