{"id":204708,"date":"2026-04-21T14:00:46","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T14:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/204708\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T14:00:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T14:00:46","slug":"agony-anger-and-tears-queens-mourns-murder-of-15-year-old-jaden-pierre-at-heartbreaking-vigil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/204708\/","title":{"rendered":"Agony, anger and tears: Queens mourns murder of 15-year-old Jaden Pierre at heartbreaking vigil"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Queens<\/a> community witnessed firsthand the pain of a mother\u2019s loss on Monday night as she pleaded for her \u201cbaby\u201d \u2014 15-year-old Jaden Pierre, who was shot dead at a park last week.<\/a><\/p>\n

All the while, local residents demanded that police<\/a> quickly bring the suspect responsible for Pierre\u2019s murder to justice before they find the shooter on their own.<\/p>\n

Hundreds gathered in Roy Wilkins Park on April 20 and joined Shanelle Weston in her heart-wrenching grief. She broke down in tears during an emotional vigil for slain 15-year-old Jaden Pierre, whose uncle had described the slain teen as \u201cjust a regular kid \u201d one day earlier.<\/a><\/p>\n

Residents of all ages packed themselves in the basketball court just off Merrick and Baisley Boulevards, mere steps away from where Pierre was beaten and shot during a water balloon fight gone awry on the night of April 16. Singers played gospel music as they honored the teen\u2019s short life, sending those in the crowd into a tailspin of emotion.<\/p>\n

Some could be seen weeping profusely and gripping and leaning onto one another for strength; others held hands and cried out in pain. Young mothers at the vigil wiped the eyes of their crying children, and seniors raised their hands to the heavens in an effort to make sense of the tragedy.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Gardy Pierre, the slain teen\u2019s father, took a microphone in his hand and declared his unconditional love for his son.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI love you, Jaden, I love you with everything in me, my heart, my blood, my soul, everything from my head to my toes,\u201d the grieving father said.\n<\/p>\n

\"\"A community wept profusely.Photo by Dean Moses \"\"Mothers confronted their sons.Photo by Dean Moses \"\"Children were overcome with emotion.Photo by Dean Moses<\/p>\n

Weston collapsed out of pure anguish as she cried for her son, falling into the arms of Attorney General Letitia James, who held her up and attempted to console her. The cries of the grief-stricken mother echoed into the twilight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want everyone to know that the police know who shot Jaden. In fact, they even know where he is. I would urge this gentleman to turn yourself in, to surrender as soon as possible, before the NYPD gets to you or the community. They know who you are. They know where you are. And I would urge you to surrender, \u201c James said as she held the mother.<\/p>\n

A cry for vengeance in Queens<\/p>\n

For some in attendance, sorrow boiled over into fury, charging that they didn\u2019t want to wait for cops to cuff the shooter and instead take action into their own hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all hurt, and we want answers. We want solutions. He\u2019s going to get justice on the streets or in the criminal justice system. Justice is coming,\u201d said Ramel Jones, a cousin of Pierre. \u201cI am calling on the OG\u2019s in the community. How the f**k are we going to let a bunch of little kids dictate what goes on in our community? Let\u2019s step up. Let\u2019s protect our kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNYPD, do your job, find him before we do!\u201d Rev. Kevin McCall added.\n<\/p>\n

\"\"Family members wept.Photo by Dean Moses \"\"Family members wept.Photo by Dean Moses \"\"Attorney General Letitia James comforts a young family member.Photo by Dean Moses<\/p>\n

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams embraced Pierre\u2019s young family members, who sobbed uncontrollably. Less of an elected official in that moment and more of an anguished father, he told the gathering that Pierre\u2019s mother reminded him of his own mother, and the thought that his daughter could grow up to lose someone to gun violence left him enraged.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis 15-year-old child with his book bag was beaten and shot to death in a park. My God, My God, and people videotaped it with their camera. Why was his life not worth putting the phone down?\u201d Williams asked, tears streaming down his face. \u201cThe demonic obsession with guns in this freaking country is the problem, period. And even if they\u2019re here, our children do not have to pick them up. That part is on us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vigil ended with mourners releasing hundreds of white balloons into the sky before the masses lit candles and placed flowers where the teen lost his life.\n<\/p>\n

The shooter caught on video firing the fatal shot remains at large as of Tuesday morning.\n<\/p>\n

\"\"Public Advocate Jumaane Williams embraced Pierre\u2019s young family members, who sobbed uncontrollably.Photo by Dean Moses \"\"Grown men wept.Photo by Dean Moses \"\"Others cried over candles.Photo by Dean Moses<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Queens community witnessed firsthand the pain of a mother\u2019s loss on Monday night as she pleaded for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204709,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[303,787,79543,9,24,63,103,104,122,124,123,32328],"class_list":["post-204708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-crime","tag-gun-violence","tag-jaden-pierre","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-nypd","tag-police","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-vigil"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}