Kenneth Wright, 18, of Chauncy Street in Brooklyn, was arrested last Thursday and charged with killing Jamal…
By Courtney Dentch
An 18-year-old Brooklyn man was charged with shooting a South Jamaica man who tried to mediate a fight between two girls last month, police said. Kenneth Wright, 18, of Chauncy Street in Brooklyn, was arrested last Thursday and charged with killing Jamal Gregory, 21, a day after Gregory tried to break up the fight, police said. Gregory, of the Baisley Garden Apartments in South Jamaica, was hanging out with friends June 14 when two girls began fighting, said Shakeema Adams, Gregory’s sister. Gregory jumped into the fray to stop the fight between the two, one his ex-girlfriend and the other a teen who had a crush on Gregory, although it was unclear if he was the subject of the dispute, Adams said. As Gregory tried to push one of the girls away, he put his hand on her neck and she yelled that he was choking her, Adams said. The girl kept screaming, allegedly threatening to get someone to kill him, she said. The next day, June 15, Gregory was sitting on a bench on 147th Street, behind his apartment building, when he was shot in the neck and the leg at about 8 p.m., police said. He tried to make his way home when he collapsed. Gregory was taken to Mary Immaculate Hospital, where he died at 10 p.m., police said. Wright was arrested last Thursday, but the girl who shouted threats at Gregory had not been arrested, police said. The district attorney’s office did not have any information on the charges against Wright or his arraignment, a spokesman said Monday afternoon. Gregory, a foster child who had lived with his adopted family since he was 3 years old, was “always helpful,” Adams said. “He was not a bad guy,” she said. “If you asked him, he would help you.” Gregory earned money baby-sitting in his apartment complex, but he was working toward his general equivalency diploma and had an interview for a job as a security guard scheduled the week he was shot, Adams said. “He was trying to get his life together,” she said. “He wanted to do things right.” When he was not baby-sitting, Gregory could often be found on the basketball courts in Baisley Pond Park across the street from his apartment, Adams said. He also loved music and wrote his own rap lyrics, she said. Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.
