The Murder Book 2008

July 20th -- 2 dead, boy killed by hit & run driver in Brooklyn...

Rondell Grant Jr., an 11-year-old black youth, was killed early Saturday by a hit and run driver in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn, according to stories in the Daily News, the NY Post and NY Times.

Rondell was at the home at 505 East 43rd Street for a summer grill-out with family and friends. Rondell was near a van used by his mother when three cars sped by. After the second one zoomed by, Rondell stepped out to take a look and was struck by the third car. It kept going but the alleged driver of the third car -- 19-year-old Naquan Mandry -- was later arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in death, according to the Times story. The car was parked in Mandry's driveway, and had suffered obvious damage to its front bumper and windshield.

An aunt told The Times: “We were all outside having a good time. I heard a skid like tires, then I heard a bang. It sounded like two cars colliding. Then I heard crying, so much crying. His brother stood over him and kept yelling, ‘Rondell, get up!’”

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Interesting story in the Daily News about the mothers of Patrick Hernandez and Karon Lenihan, one of whose sons was murdered by the other. Lenihan is charged with killed Hernandez with a shotgun blast in broad daylight in Far Rockaway. Hernandez was flanked by his brother and both had just finished cleaning a local beach. Hernandez had graduated high school weeks earlier and was headed for an upstate college this fall.

As the News story notes, there is anguish on both side with both mothers describing their sons in nearly identical terms. Lenihan's mother said her son was working two jobs and was not a street kid despite an earlier arrest for drug possession. Odd and sad.

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Spencer Parris, a 39-year-old male who was shot to death by an NYPD police officer in an upper East Side building last week, had a history of mental illness and may have been committing "suicide by cop," according to what sources told The Daily News.

Parris would not drop his knife despite pleas by officers who confronted him in a narrow hallway of the building where he lived on East 83th Street in Manhattan Thursday night.

After coming toward the officers, Police Officer Micah Adler, a 10-year-veteran, shot Parris once. Parris reportedly had spent the hours before the encounter drinking at a local bar, Ship of Fools. His girlfriend reportedly told officers that Parris was taking medication for a bi-polar disorder.

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July 8th & 9th -- 2 dead...

Grant Fleming, a 21-year-old black male, was shot to death with his own gun Tuesday evening while he apparently was attempting to rob someone, according to a story in the Daily News.

Fleming was shot on the fifth floor of a building in the Richmond Terrace Houses on Staten Island. He collapsed and was taken to Richmond University Medical Center where he later died. The News story reported that Fleming was from a "criminal family" and that two of his brothers are in prison.

Rudy Fleming, 23, was convicted of killing Nicole duFresne on the lower East Side in 2005. Another brother, Royal Fleming, 29, beat a man with a baseball bat during a robbery last year, according to the story.

A police source told The News: "It looks like he was shot with his own gun. This family is very well known to us on Staten Island for their long and glorious history of criminal behavior."

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An unidentified Latino male, believed to be between 17 and 20 years old, was found stabbed to death at West 162nd Street and Broadway in upper Manhattan, according to a police report. He was taken to Columbia Presbysterian Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. No arrests.

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June 30th -- 1 dead in car crash on Park Avenue...

Julie Tsang, a 17-year-old Asian female, was killed early Sunday when a car in which she was a passenger was hit by a truck at East 65th Street and Park Avenue in Manhattan, according to stories in the NY Post and Daily News.

Robert Gomez, 22, the driver of the truck refused to take a Breathalizer test, and was arrested at the scene and charged with DWI and criminally negligent homicide. The Post cited a source as saying Gomez "reeked" of alcohol.

Tsang had just graduated a few days before from Millennium High School in lower Manhattan, and was returning from a graduation party when the car she was driving in was hit. She had been planning to attend Hunter College in the fall.

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All three city newspapers -- the News, NY Times, and Post -- carried stories about the shooting death of 15-year-old Nathan Allsbrook who was hit by an apparent stray bullet in Harlem early Sunday morning.

Nathan's mother Cherise Smith told The Times: “I just want my son back. He didn’t deserve this. He would have been in church now. Everybody loved him. I loved him so much. I just wish I could wake up and he’d be here.”

 

June 29th -- 4 dead, including 15-year-old shot in Harlem...

Nathan Allsbrook, a 15-year-old black youth (photo left), was shot to death early Sunday on the corner of West 127th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem, according to a story in the Daily News.

Allsbrook was shot in the chest by an apparent stray bullet as he walked home from a party celebrating the end of the school year. He had just finished his second year at Rice High School.

His heartbroken grandmother Bertha told The News: "He was loving, he was kind, he was sweet, he was compassionate." No arrests.

His mother Cherise Smith told the newspaper: "I just want my son back, he didn't deserve this. He would have been at church today. I just wish I could wake and he'd be here again."

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Devin Ellison, a 20-year-old black male who had moved to Massachusetts to escape NYC's tough streets, was shot to death Friday afternoon after he'd returned to the Bronx to celebrate the graduations of his neice and nephew, according to a story in the Daily News. It is at least the 4th time recently that a NYC who had moved to escape violence was murdered when he or she returned to the old neighborhood.

Ellison, who was working construction in Massachusetts, had a confrontation with 17-year-old Anthony Samuels in the Bronx last Wednesday, and, according to Ellison's family, Samuels allegedly told Ellison he was going to come back and kill him. Reportedly, Samuels ambushed Ellison Friday and shot him in the head, torso and groin on Clay Avenue in the borough's Morrisania section.

Samuels was arrested and charged with murder and weapons possession.

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Ellison Butler, a 22-year-old black male, was shot to death Friday night while he stood on a basketball court with some friends, according to brief reports in the Daily News and NY Post.

Butler apparently was standing on the court near East New York Avenue when the bullet struck. He staggered to a nearby restroom while friends called 911. He was taken to Kings County Hospital where he died sometime later. No arrests.

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Samuel Harewood, a 17-year-old black youth and a student at Automotive High School, was shot to death early Saturday as he walked near his Flatbush home, according to a story in the Daily News.

An unknown gunman opened fire on Harewood and a friend as they were walking home just after midnight on East 21st Street in Brooklyn. Harewood was hit once in the chest and was taken to Kings County Hospital where he died soon after.

A neighbor told The News: "He's the baby of the family." No arrests and no apparent motive for the shooting.

June 26th -- 2 dead with gunshot wounds to neck...

An unidentified 35-year-old black male was found shot to death inside a grey 2005 Jeep Wednesday at the intersection of East 141st Street and Bruckner Blvd. in the Bronx, according to a police report. The victim had a gunshot wound to the neck and was pronounced dead on arrival. No arrests.

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Maximilian Campusano, a 33-year-old male, was found with a gunshot wound to the neck Wednesday in the 5th floor hallway of 20 Bogardus Place in the Inwood section of Manhattan, according to briefs in the NY Post and Daily News. No arrests.

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Read the full story behind the murder of dancer Catherine Woods, subject of my book "Death of a Dream," co-authored by CBS News correspondent Erin Moriarty. This is the behind the scenes story of Catherine's controversial lifestyle, the two men in her life, and the trial of Paul Cortez. Reviewers called the book: "compelling" and "a chilling good read." Available at bookstores under 'true crime' and online.

First chapter available free.

June 25th -- 5 dead in shootings and stabbings...

Five people were murdered in a 12-hour period in NYC Monday night into Tuesday morning, and it merited a story on page 28 of The News, a few briefs in the NY Post, and nothing in the NY Times. The bloody roll call includes:

Vincent Cruz, a 17-year-old Latino youth, was found shot to death early Tuesday in front of 205 Eldridge Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, according to a police report and a story in the Daily News. He had been shot one time in the head, and was pronounced dead on arrival at Bellevue Hospital. Sources told The News that the shooting may have been in retalliation for a remark Cruz made against someone's girlfriend earlier in the day.

Jonathan Diaz, a friend of Cruz, told The News: "He's too young. He didn't deserve that."

No arrests.

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Tynel Van-Kallen, a 22-year-old black male from South Carolina, was found stabbed several times in the neck and chest Monday night near Hughes Avenue and E. 181st Street in the Bronx, according to a police report. Van-Kallen, who was in the city visiting a cousin, was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital where he later died. Police arrested Jermaine Elston, 29, of the Bronx and charged him with murder and criminal possession of a weapon.

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Guillermo Rojas, a 24-year-old Latino male, was found stabbed once in the chest late Monday night in front of 87-33 112th Street in Queens, according to a police report. He was taken to Jamaica Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. No arrests.

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Christopher Cruz, a 19-year-old Latino youth, was found stabbed in the chest Monday night in front of 2190 Second Avenue in Manhattan, according to police report. He was taken to Metropolitan Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. No arrests.

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An unidentified black male was found shot to death early Tuesday morning inside 466 W. 150th Street in Harlem, according to a police report. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Harlem Hospital. No arrests.

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June 9th -- 1 dead, another woman stabbed to death in Chelsea....

An unidentified 60-year-old Chelsea woman was found stabbed to death Sunday night in a 5th floor apartment at a building on 14th Street and 8th Avenue, according to a brief article in the Daily News.

The woman's husband told police he found his wife in that condition when he returned to their apartment Sunday just after 11 p.m. She had been stabbed multiple time and was pronounced dead at the scene. The building does have a doorman.

Margaux Powers, another Chelsea resident, was stabbed to death by her boyfriend last month. He later killed himself.

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The Daily News has a couple of very good articles about the death of 3-year-old Kyle Smith who was beaten to death last week. His godmother and her live in boyfriend have been arrested in connection with his death. Neighbors are blaming themselves for not having called police although there are indications social service workers visited the home last December. This type of story, sadly, is a recurring one in NYC.

June 8th -- 3 dead & 2 arrests in 3 year old's death...

A Brooklyn couple charged with caring for 3-year-old Kyle Smith yesterday was charged with contributing to the little boy's death by beating and sodomizing him, according to stories in the NY Times, The Daily News and the NY Post.

Smith's godmother, Nymeen Cheatham, 30, and her live-in boyfrend Lemar Martin, 25, (photo) both of 129 Patchen Avenue, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, were charged with assault and acting in a manner to injure the child, the police said. More charges -- including murder -- are pending more investigation in Smith's death.

Smith's battered body showed the classic signs of horrendous child abuse, including burns, bruises and at least one broken bone. Neighbors said they had seen Cheatham yell at the child and force him to sit outside in barely any clothing when it was 16 degrees outside.

One neighbor told The Times: "Everybody feels horrible now because nobody did nothing about it. But now it’s too late.”

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Akeem (Moe) Blyden, a 22-year-old black male, was shot to death outside the Coney Island Houses Saturday early morning after he and his killer both pulled handguns on each other, according to a report in the Daily News. Blyden's gun jammed but the shooter's did not.

Blyden was hit in the head and chest, and died on the spot. According to the News article, Blyden was a gang member who had survived a previous shooting. The friend said Blyden was living on borrowed time. "It was coming," he told the News. 

A worker at a nearby deli was blase about the shooting and murder, saying "It happens every weekend here. They play with guns all the time." No arrests.

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An unidentified 18-year-old black youth was shot to death last Saturday night at W. 150th Street and Broadway in Manhattan, according to a police report. He was taken to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital by a group of friends but died soon after. Reportedly, the friends and the dead youth were arguing with another group of youths. No arrests.

It was another in a series of murders involving teenagers and reminiscent of the murder of Maurice McIver, 15, last month.

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An unidentified Latino male believed to be in his 20's was found stabbed to death in front of 410 Harmon Street in Brooklyn, according to a police report. He was pronounced dead at the scene. No arrests.

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Read the full story behind the murder of dancer Catherine Woods, subject of my book "Death of a Dream," co-authored by CBS News correspondent Erin Moriarty. This is the behind the scenes story of Catherine's controversial lifestyle, the two men in her life, and the trial of Paul Cortez. Reviewers called the book: "compelling" and "a chilling good read." Available at bookstores under 'true crime' and online.

First chapter available free.

June 1st -- 3 dead...young woman found dismembered in Chelsea bathtub...

Margaux Powers, a 26-year-old white female (photo left with her father Michael), was found dismembered in her Chelsea apartment bathtub Saturday night, just hours before her boyfriend -- Jonathan Smith, 34 -- apparently jumped to his death from a building in lower Manhattan, according to a story in the Daily News.

Powers' sister and family members became concerned they could not reach Margaux for several days and eventually went to her apartment at 235 W. 22nd St. where they made the discovery and also, according to the News, found an unsigned apologetic suicide note. Powers' body was discovered by her horrified sister Dana when she pulled back the shower curtain. A building doorman told the News that Powers and her boyfriend fought all the time.

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Carlos Rios, a 47-year-old Latino male, was shot to death by an off-duty police police officer in the Bronx late Saturday night after Rios apparently accosted the officer's wife and 3-year-old daughter in an apartment elevator, according to an Associated Press story.

Reportedly, Rios showed the woman and girl a gun as he got into the elevator. She screamed and her husband, the off-duty cop, came to their aid. The attacker was shot but still managed to run from the building but was caught a short distance away. He died soon after.

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Liu Mei Liang, an 85-year-old Asian female, was reportedly killed in an attack last week by a former correction officer who body-slammed the grandmother to the ground while she was doing Tai Chi exercises in Chinatown, according to a story in the NY Post.

Gary Brown, 27, apparently was drunk when he said he accidentally bumped into Liang in the playground of PS 134 on East Broadway and knocked her down, according to the story. Witnesses came forward to say they saw Brown pick her up and slam the woman to the ground, cops said. Liang died two days later at Bellevue Hospital and Brown was charged with her murder, according to the Post story.

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The May Report on the number of homicides this past month will be posted later in the day.

 

 

May 29th -- 2 dead, including shootout in Chinatown luxury condo...

An unidentified male was shot to death by an off-duty NYPD police officer Wednesday night as he and an accomplice allegedly tried to rob a female receptionist working the front the desk of a luxury condominium building in Chinatown, according to reports in the Daily News and NY Times.

Reportedly, the two robbers walked into the building, and announced a stickup unaware that the man talking to receptionist Artenida Gjeli was off-duty NYPD Detective Martin Carrano. Gjeli and Carrano resisted, and one of the men slashed Gjeli in the face. Carrano reportedly pulled out his badge and gun, announced he was a police officer, and when the men continued the attack, Carrano fired his service weapon, according to the stories. One of the attackers died and the other was wounded.

It was somewhat unclear what Carrano was doing in the lobby. There was one report that the detective was moonlighting as a security guard there, while another claimed he was talking to Gjeli about a recent complaint she'd allegedly filed against a former boyfriend.

One thing is for sure. Residents of the building got what they bargained for. As the Times story notes, the condo building, which is in Chinatown at 123 Baxter Street, advertises on its website that "the very essense of city living is just outside your door."

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The body of an unidentified 35-year-old male with a head wound was found wrapped in a blanket inside a white pickup truck near North Conduit Avenue in Queens shortly before noon on Wednesday, according to a report in the NY Times. 

The Times reported that the man may have been shot but the cause of death is undetermined, pending an autopsy by the city’s medical examiner’s. A friend of the dead man reportedly had been looking for him, when he found his car, and spotted blood inside. Eventually police were called.

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Police yesterday made an arrest in last week's murder of Maurice McIver, a 15-year-old Latino youth, shot to death in upper Manhattan, according to a story in the Daily News. Arrested was Jamal Armstead, 16, who had pled guilty to weapons possession last November. Armstead was still on the streets because he'd been given a second chance by a judge who placed the youth in a program for teens with no prior records. He was allowed to remain free as long as he attended school, was home by 8 p.m., and passed periodic drug tests. The shooting death of McIver happened much later than 8 p.m.; he did not get a second chance

Armstead reportedly told police that he and a friend rushed over to the Wise Houses, where McIver was shot, after a female friend complained she had been "dissed" by someone. Armstead, according to the News story, fired at a male who reportedly had words with the female but the gun jammed. Armstead then handed the gun to a friend who pointed and pulled the trigger a second time. This time, the gun did fire and hit McIver instead of the intended target, according to the News story.

Today, police announced they had made a second arrest in the case. Reginald Wiggins, also 16, was charged with second-degree murder in McIver's death.

. Columnist Mike Daly has a good column about teens and guns as a sidebar to the main story.