Army Enlistee Fires Gun, Kills Mother Of Two

A 23-year-old man on leave from the United States Army has been charged with firing the stray bullet that fatally wounded a young mother as she stood at her Briarwood apartment window. The defendant, who allegedly had been drinking, was standing out on the street in front of the apartment complex with friends when he allegedly fired a gun into the air.
The defendant has been identified as Danny Carpio, who is presently stationed at Fort Hood, Texas.
According to the charges, at approximately 11:15 p.m. on December 28, the defendant, who had just left a relative’s house where he had been drinking, met up with friends outside of 141-68 85th Road in Briarwood and fired a 9 millimeter semi-automatic pistol numerous times in the air in the direction of a six-story apartment building at 141-68 85th Road. One of the stray bullets struck Selina Akthela, 28, in the head while she was standing at her fifth-floor apartment window, killing her. It is further alleged that after the shooting, the defendant discarded the pistol on 143rd Street as he fled from the scene.
Arraigned before Queens Criminal Court Judge Lenora Gerald, the defendant was charged with manslaughter in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degrees and tampering with physical evidence. Judge Gerald set bail at $300,000 and a return date of January 13. If convicted, the defendant faces up to fifteen years in prison.
District Attorney Richard A. Brown said, “As an Army recruit trained in the safety and handling of weapons both on and off the battlefield, the defendant should have known better than to aimlessly fire a gun in a crowded residential area. As a result of his thoughtless action, a young woman is now dead and her two small children must face the difficult and heartbreaking task of adjusting to a life empty of their mother’s presence. Sadly, this case is a grim lesson – especially during this holiday season – as to why guns and drinking are a lethal mixture.”