FIVE YOUTHS, EIGHT MEN INDICTED FOR CRIMES INCLUDING MURDERS OF TWO BOYS, NON-FATAL SHOOTING, CARJACKINGS

 

Rival Crews Committed Retaliation Shootings, Crimes Against Bronx Residents From May Through July; Ballistics Recovered From Boys’ Killings Matched to Nine Other Shootings

 Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark and New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea today announced that 13 people—including five 16-year-old boys—have been indicted on charges related to the fatal shootings of a 13-year-old, a 16-year-old, and the non-fatal shooting of two men, as well as car jackings and robberies in the Bronx that occurred from May through July. 

 District Attorney Clark said, “These defendants are charged in a string of violent crimes, culminating in the murders of two boys, that contributed to a brutal summer. These indictments are an assurance to the people of the Bronx that we will hold accountable anyone who brings gunfire to our streets. But these indictments are also a tragic chronicle of a lost generation: boys and young men who turned to guns, and two lives were taken and 14 lives have been squandered. We must do something to change the course of our young people who gravitate to gangs so that they do not wind up committing serious crimes. We are experiencing an utter catastrophe in the Bronx.”

 Commissioner Shea said, “This is yet another case illustrating the endless stream of guns in our city and their devastating impact on victims’ lives. Each gun seized tells the story of kids and others gunned down in the street, of mothers and loved ones in mourning, and of neighborhoods traumatized. We remain thankful today for the courage and tenacity of our NYPD investigators and our partners in the Bronx district attorney’s office for their ceaseless commitment to public safety and for meeting this violence with meaningful consequences.” 

 District Attorney Clark said defendants Jahlil Califf, 16, and Justin Baez, 18, were charged with second-degree Murder and Manslaughter in the death of 13-year-old Jaryan Elliott; and Alec McFarlane, 16, and Tyquan Howard, 16, were charged with second-degree Murder and Manslaughter in the death of 16-year-old Ramon Gil-Medrano. Baez is also charged with Attempted Murder for a double non-fatal shooting.

 They and the other defendants—Marcus Odom, 16, Mekhi Williams, 20, Hasib Cutts, 19, Jonathan Westbury, 18, Elyesha Cook, 21, Tyshawn McClure, 20, Damian James, 20, and Dante Thomas, 21—are variously charged with second-degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon, Conspiracy to Commit Murder, fourth-degree Conspiracy, third and fourth-degree Grand Larceny, and first, second, third-degree Robbery.

 They were arrested on various dates and have been arraigned on the indictment.

 According to the investigation, the shootings involved members of two rival neighborhood crews, the 800 YGs based in Belmont and Thirdside, who are based in the Norwood/Mosholu area of the Bronx.

 The indictments charge these crimes:

 on May 24, 2021, Baez allegedly carjacked a Toyota Camry; 

 on June 24, 2021, Baez and Westbury allegedly carjacked a 2020 Mercedes Benz and robbed a person at gunpoint;

 on July 11, 2021, Califf allegedly fatally shot Jaryan Elliot on East 187th Street; 

 on July 11, 2021, McFarlane and Howard, riding on scooter, allegedly fatally shot Ramon Gil-Medrano, 16, who was inside a livery cab driving on East 178th Street;

 on July 12, 2021, Baez drove a vehicle and he and others allegedly shot two 19-year-old rival gang members on East 184th Street and Washington Avenue; 

 on July 14, 2021, McClure, Thomas and James were in a stolen vehicle with a loaded firearm; 

 on July 14, 2021, Cook posessed a loaded 9-mm pistol that was used in the homicide of Jaryan Elliott;

on July 23, 2021, Califf, Odom, Pearce and Westbury allegedly were in a stolen vehicle with two loaded firearms; 

 on July 23, 2021, Baez and Westbury robbed two people of property. 

 District Attorney Clark thanked NYPD Detectives Frank Orlando and Brianna Cosentino, Detectives Michael Delgardo and Pat Nichols of the NYPD Gun Violence Suppression Division, Detective Kevin Godspeed of Queens South Homicide Squad, Police Officer Jordan Moses of the 48th Precinct, and the 48th , 46th , 52nd and 49th Precinct Detective Squads and Patrol Officers.

An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.