By Rich Bockmann
Murder charges await the man who police allege killed a 14-year-old girl on a bus in South Jamaica when he is extradicted from South Carolina, District Attorney Richard Brown said.
About 2 1/2 weeks after a gunman opened fire on a Q6 bus and killed D’aja Robinson, Kevin McClinton was arrested around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday in the Riverland section of Cayce, S.C., the U.S. Marshals Office said.
More than 100 people commented on the arrest on a Facebook memorial page honoring Robinson.
“Two young lives lost again to gun violence — when will we learn people….” one wrote.
The NYPD had identified McClinton, 21, as the suspected shooter five days earlier, and a spokeswoman for the Marshals Office said he was arrested in the Southern state without incident.
Robinson, described by her family as a straight-A student who loved to dance, had been dropped off by her mother at a Sweet 16 party a few blocks from her South Jamaica home early in the evening May 18.
Since it was raining heavily that night, the teen and one of her friends decided to ride the Q6 bus back, but as it sat idling near the intersection of Rockaway and Sutphin boulevards, a gunman fired off at least nine shots from a .40 caliber handgun into the side of the bus.
Police believe the shooter was trying to hit someone else, but a stray bullet struck Robinson in the head and she died at the scene.
Brown said that when McClinton is returned to Queens, he will be arraigned on a list of charges, including murder, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon.
“The death of this young, talented 14-year-old is a senseless tragedy and another painful example of the mindless gun-related violence that too often takes innocent lives,” the DA said.
McClinton faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
In the wake of Robinson’s death, community members rallied to condemn the violence that took her life and attempt to curb another season of heavy gun violence like the one experienced last year, but last weekend saw a wave of shootings that could portend the start of another bloody summer.
Police said 26 people were shot around the city — including four in Queens — during the 72-hour period from Friday through Sunday.
A man was shot and killed at the South Jamaica Houses Friday, a man and a woman suffered non-fatal gunshot wounds in Far Rockaway Saturday and another man survived a gunshot wound at the Ravenswood Houses Sunday.
NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said Monday police will be targeting their resources in an effort to stem further shootings.
Public housing developments citywide will see more uniformed officers and the NYPD will be deploying its watch towers and mobile observation vehicles to the areas where the first shootings occurred, Kelly said.
Personnel from the Warrants Division will also step up enforcement in nine commands that had multiple shootings this past weekend to try to weed out those with outstanding warrants.
Police noted that despite the recent spate of shootings, there were still 40 fewer homicides for the year through Sunday than there had been by the same time last year.
According to the department’s crime statistics, by May 26 there were nine fewer murders in Queens than there had been at the same time last year.
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
