The 16-year-old boy who allegedly shot and killed a Brooklyn cheerleader inside a Holliswood home on Saturday, Feb. 15, is being held without bail after he made his first court appearance on Monday night.
The teenager, who was not identified because he is a minor, was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on a complaint charging him with manslaughter in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon, an armed felony offense.
Police from the 107th Precinct in Fresh Meadows responded to a 911 call of a female shot at 87-25 Clover Place just before 5:15 p.m., where they found the victim unconscious and unresponsive with a gunshot wound to her head. EMS rushed the girl to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
She was later identified as Deaza Barkley, 17, of Sutter Avenue in the City Line section of Brooklyn. Her fatal shooting was deemed a homicide.
The 16-year-old was taken into custody at the crime scene as a person of interest. After detectives reviewed video surveillance, information by witnesses known to the Queens District Attorney’s office and the NYPD, and the defendant’s statements and admissions during questioning, the youngster was arrested on Sunday evening.
According to the criminal complaint, the defendant was handling a loaded and operable firearm when it discharged a bullet, which struck the victim in her head, causing her death.
Investigators have been unable to identify the owner of the handgun because the serial number was scratched off.
During his Monday night arraignment, the defendant was additionally charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree and criminal possession of a firearm.
Judge Maria Gonzalez remanded him into custody without bail.
