Murder rap dropped in A-train slay
A grand jury failed to indict a Queens teenager on murder charges in the subway shooting death of 15-year-old Jayjon Burnett, The Post has learned.
Police arrested Keyondre Russell, 18, Oct. 15, a day after Burnett was killed on an A train in Far Rockaway as two groups of teens brawled — a melee caught on cellphone video, which was obtained by The Post. Prosecutors had charged Russell with murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
But a grand jury on Friday indicted him only on the weaponspossession charges as well as two counts each of tampering with physical evidence and menacing, according to the office of Queens DA Melinda Katz.
Burnett’s anguished family heard the news Friday night.
“They’re not charging my son’s murderer with murder,” said father Jeff Burnett. “I want justice for my son.”
Burnett’s parents insisted that police arrested the right person.
The video shows the moments before and after the shooting. It does not clearly show who fired the gun and leaves unanswered how two people — both Burnett and Russell — ended up wounded with apparently just one bullet fired.
The video starts as one boy, possibly Burnett, says to a girl in a tracksuit, “I know who used to be your boyfriend. All that.”
Russell, who is wearing a face mask, can be seen standing behind the girl, according to a source who knows him.
That girl starts slugging one of the riders, while behind her, another group of teens appears to get into a scuffle in the corner of the mostly empty car.
Then one boy raises his arm, and a gunshot rings out. Burnett, who police said was shot in the chest, stumbles forward and falls face down on the floor.
Russell’s lawyer, Peter St. George Davis, said his client was among the group in the corner, but was sitting on the bench with other teens standing over him.
The footage then gets jumbled as whoever is filming appears to move away from the gunfire. A male voice asks, “Why you got to do that?” as a girl screams “JJ, get the f--k up!” to Burnett.
Someone lifts Burnett by the shoulders, showing his lifelesslooking face. A good Samaritan pulled him off the train at the Mott Avenue-Far Rockaway station, police said.