By Courtney Dentch
A Hollis teen shot his younger brother in the chest while playing with a gun he found Sunday night and dragged him down three flights in a desperate attempt to get help, police said.
Both Romando Raphael, 16, and his brother Richard, 15, screamed in vain for help before Richard collapsed in the courtyard of their father's apartment complex at 91-20 191st St., neighbors said.
“They kept screaming, 'Help me! Help me!'” said Noonmatti Damri, who lives below the Raphaels.
Richard Raphael died at Mary Immaculate Hospital just before midnight Sunday, police said.
Romando Raphael was arrested after the accidental shooting and charged with manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon, according to a criminal complaint from the district attorney's office. Romando could face 15 years in prison on the manslaughter charge.
He was arraigned July 1 in Queens Criminal Court in Kew Gardens in front of Judge Suzanne Melendez, who ordered him held without bail at Rikers Island.
Romando told police he found the 9mm handgun in the bushes near the building and brought it into the third-floor apartment just after 11 p.m. Sunday, police said. He tried to remove the ammunition clip, but when he tried to clear the round in the chamber, another bullet took its place, police said.
Thinking the weapon was empty, Romando pointed the gun at Richard and pulled the trigger, according to the criminal complaint.
Richard was hit in the chest, and Romando ran from the apartment and started pounding on neighboring doors in search of help, police said. When no one came to his aid, Romando grabbed his brother and began dragging him outside to the courtyard, neighbors said.
“I heard loud thumps and a person running down the stairs,” said Damri. “Someone started banging on my door, but I don't open my door for anybody.”
After a tenant in the building called 911, Richard was taken to Mary Immaculate Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:50 p.m., police said.
Richard, who lived in the Bronx with his mother, was visiting his brother for the weekend at their father's apartment in Hollis. The boys were left alone Sunday night, with their father in England and his girlfriend out of the house, neighbors said.
Damri, who lives below the Raphaels, often heard the boys running around in the apartment when Richard came to visit, she said.
“They were always playing rough,” Damri said. “Sometimes it was so loud I can't sleep at night.”
Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.
