15-YEAR-OLD A ‘SLAY WHEELMAN’
‘Drive-by’ killed 2 in B’klyn
A 15-year-old boy has been charged with murder for allegedly acting as the wheelman during a drive-by shooting where his accomplice killed two Brooklyn teens, authorities said.
The teen, identified as Bryant Perez, was busted at around 3:30 p.m. Monday and charged with two counts of murder in connection with the July 26 slayings of Antonio Villa, 18, and Kleimer Mendez, 16.
The teens were shot on a basketball court at George Walker Jr. Park in Cypress Hills at around 6:40 p.m. when a gunman — allegedly Joshua Bonilla, 23 — popped out of the sunroof of a dark-colored Honda SUV and opened fire.
Villa and Mendez each was fatally struck in the head, while a 17-year-old took a bullet to the leg but survived.
Perez was hit with one count of attempted murder in connection with the surviving teen’s shooting, cops said.
Prosecutors said in a criminal complaint that Perez acted as the driver.
“The defendant drove to the vicinity of 66 Vermont Street, Brooklyn, NY, upon which time multiple shots were fired from the moving vehicle striking Kleimer Piron Mendez in the head, Antonio Alberto Villa in the head and an individual known to the NYPD and the Kings County District Attorney’s Office in the leg,” according to a criminal complaint from the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.
Perez, who was sent to jail without bail, also faces three counts each of criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment.
Bonilla was arrested on the same charges last week.
The night after the basketball-court killings, a man was shot in the shoulder at a memorial for the slain teens outside the park where they were killed. He survived.
The slayings came amid a citywide spike in shootings that peaked over the summer.
By the first week of August, the city had surpassed the number of shootings and gun victims for the entire past two years.