Second Bronx Man Pleads Guilty In Connection With Shooting Of Five-Year-Old Girl

 

Matthew Podolsky, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that AUSTIN MORRISHOW pled guilty to illegally possessing multiple rounds of ammunition in connection with a June 30, 2023, shooting in which MORRISHOW and his co-defendant, CURTIS WHITE, fired multiple shots on a residential street in the Bronx, striking and seriously injuring a five-year-old girl.  MORRISHOW pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska, who also presided over WHITE’s guilty plea on February 5, 2025.   

Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky said: “On June 30, 2023, Austin Morrishow and his co-defendant, Curtis White, engaged in a brazen act of violence by firing several shots onto a busy residential street in the Bronx. As these shots rang out, panicked bystanders rushed for cover, and one child—a five-year-old girl—was struck by a bullet and seriously injured. Morrishow then tried to evade arrest, but he was tracked down by our law enforcement partners and now faces time in prison for endangering our city with senseless gun violence.” 

According to court filings and statements made in court proceedings:

On June 30, 2023, MORRISHOW, WHITE, and several others were gathered on a residential sidewalk in the Bronx.  After a car engine backfired, MORRISHOW took cover behind a parked vehicle, assumed a shooting stance, and fired several shots from a .40 caliber pistol at three cars idling nearby, which began fleeing from the gunfire.  WHITE ran after the fleeing cars, firing shots from a .380 caliber pistol.

The shots fired by MORRISHOW and WHITE left at least seven .40 caliber shell casings, two .380 caliber shell casings, and two fired bullets in the street, as well as two bullet fragments, bullet holes, and shattered windows in vehicles parked on the street.  One of these shots hit the five-year-old girl sitting in the back of a car, and she was rushed to the hospital.

MORRISHOW was not permitted to possess a firearm or ammunition because of his prior federal conviction for using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a narcotics conspiracy, and WHITE was not permitted to possess a firearm or ammunition because of his prior state conviction for attempted first-degree assault with intent to cause serious injury with a weapon.

MORRISHOW, 27, and WHITE, 27, both of the Bronx, New York, each pled guilty to one count of possession of ammunition after a felony conviction, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.  MORRISHOW is scheduled to be sentenced on June 25, 2025, and WHITE is scheduled to be sentenced on May 20, 2025.   

The statutory maximum penalty is prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Podolsky praised the outstanding investigative work of the New York City Police Department, and also thanked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Marshals Service for their assistance with the investigation.