March 31, 2022 – Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah announced that two Yonkers teens who engaged in a gunfight on a Yonkers street were sentenced for shooting a six-year-old bystander in the chest.

On March 29, 2022, an 18-year-old adolescent offender was sentenced to 10 years in state prison, with five years of post-release supervision. A 16-year-old juvenile co-offender was sentenced to three to nine years in state prison. Both defendants pled guilty to Assault in the First Degree, a violent felony.

“An innocent young child was left in critical condition after being shot by these two defendants who opened fire on a city street,” DA Rocah said. “There is no place for gun violence in Westchester County and we will continue to hold those who commit acts of violence such as this accountable to the fullest extent possible under the law. We are grateful the victim survived and we hope these sentences bring an additional measure of healing to the victim and his family.”

On April 29, 2021, at approximately 6:03 p.m., the defendants each fired multiple shots at two individuals striking the six-year-old bystander in the chest. The shooting resulted in the victim suffering a punctured left lung, two rib fractures and a small splenic laceration. The victim was transported to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, where he underwent life-saving surgery.

The Yonkers Police Department arrested the defendants shortly after the incident.

The case was before Judge Helen Blackwood in Youth Part, and was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Catalina Blanco Buitrago.

______________

Jess Vecchiarelli, Director of Communications
(914) 995-3586
jvecchiarelli@westchesterda.net