By Ivan Pereira
When asked about the teen who is accused of killing her nephew on the streets of Jamaica last week, Aisha Malik said she did not feel vindicated after the police arrested Rolando Nevarez: She pitied the young man.
Nevarez, 16, was picked up by police from the 103rd Precinct Friday and arraigned in the stabbing death of Ishmael Hakim. Ishmael, 17, was killed last Thursday because he allegedly got into an argument with Nevarez near his house on 146-47 South Road over a skateboarding accident involving one of Nevarez’s family members, a police source said.
“We lost him, but it’s also a tragic loss for that other family, too,” said Malik, who was outside Ishmael’s home with several of his other relatives.
Nevarez was charged Friday night with murder and criminal possession of a weapon, according to a spokesman for the Queens district attorney’s office. His family could not be reached for comment.
Malik said her nephew, a senior at Campus Magnet High School in Cambria Heights, was an aspiring youth who worked hard in and out of the classroom. Ishmael did chores around the house and helped out his elderly grandmother, Nadia Malik, whom he lived with.
She said his greatest passion was fashion and he was hoping to learn more about the industry after he graduated. Aisha Malik said Ishmael was planning to move in with her and his mother, Fatima Hakim, in Georgia and attend a fashion school.
“He’s been drawing shirts for years. I knew he was going to have a promising future,” she said.
Outside of artwork, Ishmael’s family said the boy loved riding his skateboard. Ishmael would often perform various tricks and ride up and down his block, to the amusement of his friends and family, Aisha Malik said.
“That was his thing. He kept saying, ‘I’m going to do a 180,’ ” she said.
In addition to his parents, grandmother and other relatives, Ishmael is survived by an older brother and two younger brothers.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
