Killed his pal in 2003, slain after term ends
A man who accidentally shot and killed his best friend as a teen was fatally shot in the Bronx just months after his release from prison — and now his suspected killer is under arrest, police said Tuesday.
Brian Reese, 36, was shot in the neck on Nov. 27 outside a building on Thwaites Place near Bronx Park East in Allerton in what police describe as a gang-related killing.
Cops, who released Reese’s name on Tuesday, said they’ve arrested his alleged killer, Anthony Thorne, 30, and charged him with murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon.
Reese’s mother, Tracy Newkirk, told the Daily News her son was trying to build a life for himself with his fiancée and young son, but that his second chance was cut short by a planned-out attack.
“I was going out for a girl’s retreat, and I found out the next morning my son was killed, shot six times, ran over and killed,” she recounted.
Reese, a reputed Bloods member, was paroled in September after he was sentenced to 12 to 14 years behind bars for manslaughter in 2007.
“He was my only son. He was a really good person. He had some really bad stuff when he was young,” Newkirk said. “He went to prison for a long stint when he was young, after his best friend got killed. When he got out, it was a parole violation, it was really minor. He was released for three months, and that was it, he was shot and killed. He was brutally shot and killed.”
Reese was 18 when he accidentally shot his friend, Jonathan Rhodes, 17, in Far Rockaway on Nov. 16, 2003.
Several people were arguing outside his home on Beach 67th St. and Reese fired his handgun, hitting Rhodes in the
left temple, Rockaway newspaper The Wave reported at the time.
“Johnny was one of his best friends, and they were young and playing with firearms. They all lived in the same house,” Newkirk said.
Though the grieving mom wasn’t proud of what her son had done, she said she was proud of how he handled himself in the aftermath. After his release, she wanted him to move with her to Florida, but he wanted to put down roots in Manhattan.
“He had a girlfriend ... a fiancée,” she said. “He had a 3-year-old son, he was really trying to get his life together. He was trying to get a job.”
Newkirk said she didn’t want to talk about the specifics of why her son was targeted for death, saying police have told her more suspects remain at large.
“It’s mean, and it’s disgusting. It was planned, and it was ugly,” she said of Reese’s killing. “It was unnecessary, unfair and heartless.”