The NYPD has arrested a Brooklyn teen who police say shot and killed a 15-year-old boy at a southeast Queens playground earlier this month. <\/p>\n
Zahir Davis, 18, has been charged with murder in the death of 15-year-old Jaden Pierre of South Richmond Hill, officials say. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said on X that Davis fled to Jamaica after the shooting, but was arrested by detectives assigned to the U.S. Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force as soon as he landed back in New York City Friday night.<\/p>\n
Police have previously said that early on the evening of April 16, officers responded to a 911 call about a shooting near Merrick and Baisley boulevards and found Pierre at a playground with a gunshot wound to his chest. He was pronounced dead shortly afterward at Jamaica Hospital.<\/p>\n
The NYPD described the incident on social media as a \u201chorrific act of violence.\u201d Former Mayor Eric Adams soon after posted a video that appears to show a group cornering and beating Pierre. In the moments leading up to the shooting, one of the people throws Pierre to the ground, but he regains his footing. A crowd surrounding the teens quickly disperses following gunshots.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you see that video as many New Yorkers have, you feel a sense of heartbreak at the fact that this has happened to a young person in our city,\u201d Mayor Zohran Mamdani told WNYC\u2019s Brigid Bergin<\/a> during the station\u2019s \u201cMamdani’s First 100 Days: Lessons from La Guardia\u201d discussion earlier this week. <\/p>\n