Suspect in Troy boy’s killing left jail in June
20-year-old previously accused of robbery and weapons crimes
The 20-year-old Cohoes man charged with fatally shooting an 11-year-old boy in Troy earlier this month had been released from jail in June — where he was being held on robbery, weapons and reckless endangerment — because he had not been indicted within 45 days of his arrest last October.
Jah Quay E. Brown has a lengthy criminal history dating to at least 2016 that includes arrests for a shooting as well as assaults, robbery and larceny charges, according to court records.
Shane Hug, a local attorney and former Rens
selaer County assistant district attorney, was appointed as a special prosecutor in Brown’s case for the robbery charge, which is pending in Guilderland, and the weapons and reckless endangerment charges in the city of Albany.
Hug on Friday confirmed that Brown was released from jail in June after his attorney, Gennaro Calabrese, filed a writ of habeus corpus motion seeking his client’s release from custody due to the amount of time that he had been behind bars without being indicted.
The release took place not long after the coronavirus pandemic had brought New York’s court system to a crawl, including the empaneling of grand juries.
Hug said he had no grounds to oppose Calabrese’s motion and added that Brown’s release from custody “had nothing to do with bail reform.”
Brown’s defense attorney, Gennaro Calabrese, could not be reached for comment.
Brown’s arrest last October took place about two weeks after he was shot in the head on First Street in Albany. That shooting left Brown brief ly hospitalized. He was shot less than a month after another drive-by shooting in Albany in which he was identified by police as the driver of the vehicle from which the shots where fired. Those charges, firstdegree assault and reckless endangerment, both felonies, led to Brown’s arrest on Oct. 21.
He was also arraigned on Oct. 24 for an unrelated robbery in Guilderland. Brown had been in custody at Albany County jail from late October until he was released on a court order in early June granting the writ motions — one for the case in Guilderland and one for the Albany case.
There was also no grand jury impaneled in Albany County from roughly March to July. But an executive order from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo had stayed pre-trial and speedy trial requirements during the pandemic. That means the special prosecutors in both cases — Hug and P.J. Blanchfield — could have asked for a stay on the motions for a writ that were filed by Brown’s attorney, but apparently did not.
Blanchfield said that the alleged victim in the gang assault was from out of state and is no longer in the area. The case is pending.
Hug said the robbery and shooting-related charges are both active cases and that Brown’s release from custody in June does not mean he will not face indictment.
“I know that everyone is looking for someone to blame for this heinous act,” Hug said of the boy’s shooting death. “The bottom line is the only person responsible for the death of this innocent child is the person who pulled the trigger; allegedly that person is Mr. Brown. Ayshawn’s family has my deepest sympathies.”
While he was at Albany County jail earlier this year, Brown also was charged with felony gang assault for an attack on another inmate. That case remains pending in Colonie and is also assigned to a special prosecutor.
On Thursday morning, Brown was charged with killing 11-year-old Ayshawn Davis in a drive-by shooting on Old Sixth Avenue on Sept. 13, according to Troy police.
Brown faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder. Brown told the judge during his arraignment that he was “concerned about my safety and my wellbeing.”
Troy’s deputy police chief, Dan Dewolf, said a handgun that police believe was used in the boy’s shooting was recovered from Brown’s residence.
Police declined to say whether Brown was the shooter in the drive-by shooting, or if others may have been involved.
Troy police credited the State Police Special Investigations Unit and other law enforcement agencies for providing assistance that helped lead to Brown’s arrest.