Teen arrested in killing of girl, 11

NEW YORK (AP) » A 15-yearold boy riding on the back of a scooter in the Bronx fired a gunshot that was intended for a 13-year-old boy but instead struck an 11-year-old girl and killed her, police said Friday.

The 15-year-old was arrested on charges including murder and manslaughter in the death of 11-year-old Kyhara Tay, who was shot in the stomach on Monday.

“Our children are having their entire childhoods taken from them,” said Mayor Eric Adams, who joined law enforcers in announcing the arrest. “Can’t go to the park. Can’t go to the store. Can’t attend events. You have to sit home because they don’t feel safe enough to go out. We’re betraying these youths. We’re failing them.”

James Essig, the Police Department’s chief of detectives, said the 15-yearold shooting suspect and the 18-year-old driver of the scooter were chasing a 13-year-old boy down a street in the Bronx just before 5 p.m. Monday when the 15-year-old fired a gun, striking Kyhara.

Detectives pored over surveillance video and identified the shooting suspect, who was arrested early Friday, Essig said. Police are still seeking the 18-year-old who was driving the scooter, he said.

“The tragedy here is that we’re talking about a gunman who is too young to be called a gunman because he’s 15 years old,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said. “A 15-year-old who possessed a gun, fired a gun on a busy street at 5 o ‘clock in the afternoon with no thought about his own human life or that of anybody else in the community.”

Essig said the 15-yearold was being charged as an adult. It wasn’t clear if he had an attorney who could comment.