Gang member busted in Harlem dirt-bike slaying

A young gang member faces murder charges after he hopped on a dirt bike with a gun-toting accomplice to kill a 19-year-old rival last summer, police said Monday. Paul Johnson, 20, took the wheel of a green-and-orange dirt bike, with another man sitting behind him, and zipped toward a crowd of people on Frederick Douglass Blvd. at W. 141st St. about 9:45 p.m. July 26, according to a criminal complaint.

His passenger opened fire, sending the crowd ducking for cover, the complaint alleges. The victim, Matthew Sumpter, ducked down with his friends and ran but was shot in the stomach, prosecutors said.

Police scoured through video of the killing, as well as footage of the dirt bike before and after the shooting, getting a clear image of Johnson as the driver, according to the complaint.

Johnson was arrested Saturday and charged with murder and reckless endangerment.

A member of a gang that named itself God’s Favorite

Children, Johnson has several prior arrests, including a May 2021 gun possession bust.

Johnson wore a purple and black North Face jacket at his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court, keeping his head down and saying little as his family watched from the benches, visibly upset.

Asked if he understood he must return to court if he’s granted bail, he said, “Yes.”

Even so, a judge ordered him held without bail.

Sumpter belonged to the 2MF gang, short for 2 Mafia Family, and had an arrest record dating back to when he was 11 and busted for robbery, police sources said.

He had a daughter and lived with his mother, sister and pregnant girlfriend, a former neighbor said at the time.

According to the neighbor, Sumpter’s mother tried her best to keep him away from trouble while she raised her two children and worked as a security guard.