‘GOD IS CRYING’
17yo who just graduated HS latest victim of shocking rise in shootings
“Seventeen-year-old children should not be dying in the manner they have been dying in their own neighborhoods,” Noel Ellison says of his nephew, Brandon Hendricks, a high school basketball star who was killed late Sunday in The Bronx.
A promising Bronx basketball player who had just graduated from high school had a bright future ahead of him, but it was snuffed out Sunday night when he became the latest victim of the surge in city gun violence.
Brandon Hendricks, 17, was a charismatic former captain of the James Monroe HS basketball team who stayed out of trouble and planned to try out for the St. John’s University squad.
But he was fatally struck by a bullet on a sidewalk in Morris Heights and pleaded for a pal to “call my mom” as he bled out, according to friends, family and police.
“Seventeen-year-old children should By LORENA MONGELLI, TINA MOORE, ZACH BRAZILLER and JORGE FITZ-GIBBON not be dying in the manner they have been dying in their own neighborhoods,” his uncle Noel Ellison told The Post, referring to the spate of shootings that has rocked the city. “This is a terrible situation.” Hendricks caught a single stray bullet to the neck at a friend’s barbecue at 11:50 p.m. He was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.
“He was the kid you want your daughter to marry,” Ellison, 67, said.
“He had every reason to be successful. Every right to have that promise, every right to have it fulfilled in a country that is supposed to be great. This is a tragedy, not only for the family but for the world. We believe God is joining us in crying.”
Hendrick’s death comes amid a dramatic increase in shootings in the five boroughs. There were 63 shootings with 85 victims over the week ending on Sunday, police sources said. By comparison, the city saw 26 shootings over the same span last year.
Hendricks’ friend and James Monroe teammate, Hammad Singleton, said he was at the point guard’s side when the peaceful gathering on Davidson Avenue near West 176th Street turned violent.
“In the blink of an eye, me and my friends are running away,” Singleton, 18, recalled. “I turn around and he told me, ‘I got hit,’ and I just seen it.
“I grabbed him and said we can’t stop right here because there’s more shots going off. He started wobbling, so I sat him down. My friends took off his shirt and I’m holding that for him.
“I’m talking to him: ‘You’re good, bro? You’re good?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m OK, I’m OK.’ ” continued Singleton, who goes by the nickname “Bam.”
“He’s trying to talk to me, ‘I’m good, I’m good.’ He said, ‘Yo, Bam, I love you. Call my mom.’ ”
Then “he just closed his eyes. He didn’t say anything else after that. That was it,” Singleton said,
Police had not made an arrest in the case as of Monday night.
Witnesses told cops that Hendricks “had been engaged in a verbal dispute” shortly before the shooting, police sources said.
But the teen’s friends and family said he was just a bystander and was not involved in the altercation, with Ellison saying his nephew “got caught in the crossfire.”
Hendricks, a standout on the James Monroe team who also played hoops during his freshman year at Fordham Prep, was eyeing Division 1 and Division 2 colleges and had spoken to Ellison on the phone about his options as late as 9:30 p.m. Sunday — hours before he was shot dead.
“We were talking about the things he had to do in preparation for college,” the uncle said.
Monroe assistant coach Chris Salgado told The Post Hendricks had decided on going to junior college at West Hills College in California.
He was planning to spend only one year there before hopefully making the hometown St. John’s team.
He played for Monroe for three years after attending Fordham Prep as a freshman. This past season, he averaged 12 points, six assists and two steals per game.
“He was an athlete. He was a leader. He was charming. Everybody loved him,” Salgado said. “He was just a people’s person. That’s why it hurts so much, because he wasn’t a street kid.”
Fordham Prep tweeted, “We are saddened to hear of the sudden passing of former Fordham Prep Ram, Brandon Hendricks He was only with us for 1 year but saw plenty of potential as he moved on . . . Prayers are sent to his family and friends.”
Two memorials for Hendricks, known to friends by the nickname “B Diddy 5,” sprung up outside his home at the Morrisania Houses on Monday — one in the lobby and the other on the basketball court where he spent years honing his hoop skills.
Dozens of candles in the lobby spelled out “B Diddy 5,” while another circle of lights outside included two basketballs and a Philadelphia 76ers basketball jersey. Monroe, too, plans a memorial. “It’s not fair,” neighbor Starasia Horton said. “This is sad because he was a good kid. He didn’t deserve this.”