The 13-year-old boy gunned down outdoors a Queens Dunkin’ Donuts this week was probably slain over a gang beef, police mentioned Thursday — as they recognized a fellow teenager because the suspected killer.
Cops consider the still-at-large suspect — 16-year-old Martin Van Buren Excessive College scholar Jaysohn Sykes — allegedly rolled up on a Razor scooter and shot younger Sanjay Samuel within the head outdoors the espresso store at round 8:20 a.m. on Monday, leaving him mind lifeless, an NYPD official mentioned.
Samuel seemed to be affiliated with the SSM, or Intercourse Cash Homicide gang, a subset of the Bloods, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny mentioned.
However the slain teen – who recognized himself as “J2 Weapons” on Instagram – was not listed within the NYPD’s “prison group database” and had no earlier prison historical past, the police official mentioned.
“He posts fairly regularly – SSM with a drop of blood,” Kenny advised reporters.
Investigators consider Sykes — who goes by the identify “Flex” — shot Samuel throughout a bunch brawl, Kenny mentioned.
“He walks as much as the group and confronts them. They’re yelling backwards and forwards. All of a sudden, the group scatters,” Kenny described.
“We consider at this level, our perpetrator pulls out and shows a pistol, which causes the gang to disperse somewhat bit,” he continued.
“The perpetrator will get again on the scooter to depart. The gang begins yelling at him once more. He comes again, at which level he will get right into a bodily struggle with our sufferer,” Kenny mentioned.
“They begin throwing punches at one another, after which a shot is fired. He goes down. Our perpetrator flees the scene.”
A very good Samaritan noticed Sykes fleeing and tried to cease him — pleading with the teenager to give up and hand over his gun — however he refused, in accordance with Kenny.
As an alternative, Sykes overtly requested the do-gooder for a experience, the chief mentioned.
“Clearly, the civilian says no, however says, ‘Can I’ve your sweatshirt?’” Kenny mentioned. “And for some motive the perp provides him his sweatshirt. So it’s a really identifiable sweatshirt. It’s clearly the one which’s on the scene that he was carrying through the capturing.”
The NYPD has “possible trigger” to arrest Sykes, and investigators with the Regional Fugitive Job Pressure had been “contacted by an legal professional, hopefully, probably to rearrange his give up,” the chief mentioned.
“What we’re getting from our sufferer’s buddies is that Flex is a identified troublemaker within the space,” Kenny mentioned. “And we now have on video from the Dunkin Donuts – a male because the interplay is happening, the place they’re taunting one another, he’s saying, ‘Flex is gonna die. Flex is gonna die.’”
Sykes has a number of social media postings exhibiting a blood drop, “however he doesn’t particularly point out any gang in his social media, Kenny mentioned.
Because the NYPD hunts for the suspect, Samuel’s household is just maintaining the teenager’s physique hooked as much as a ventilator in hopes of donating his organs, Kenny mentioned.
