The gun violence that left three teens dead, including a 13-year-old, within five days is part of a ‘major gang war’ that has been raging in the Bronx as frustrated cops say their hands are tied by a 'soft' criminal justice system that doesn't keep them in jail.
Just before midnight on Wednesday, 19-year-old Tyquill Daugherty was shot in the head in front of his home in the Crotona section of the Bronx.
Investigators believe Daugherty's killing was gang-related.
In retaliation, authorities say Jaryan 'Jay Ripp' Elliot, 13, was standing outside Angels Café with a friend on East 187th Street in the Bronx's Belmont neighborhood at around 3.15pm on Sunday when he was gunned down.
The gunman approached Elliot in a black vehicle, stepped out and began firing, hitting him once in the chest and once in the leg, police said.
He is believed to have been the intended target.
Tyquill Daugherty, 19, was shot and killed before midnight on Wednesday. He was shot in the head in front of his home in the Crotona section of the Bronx. Investigators believe it was a gang-related shooting
In retaliation, authorities say Jaryan 'Jay Ripp' Elliot (above), 13, was standing outside Angels Café with a friend on East 187th Street in the Bronx's Belmont neighborhood at around 3.15pm on Sunday when he was gunned down. The gunman approached Elliot in a black vehicle, stepped out and began firing, hitting him once in the chest and once in the leg, police said
The image above shows surveillance footage from inside the cafe on Sunday
Less than nine hours after Elliot was killed, gang-bangers took revenge for his murder by targeting Ramon Gil-Medrano (above), 16, about a mile away, according to the Post
Elliot, who was said to have been a member of the Crips, was taken to Barnabas Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The boy was believed to be at the scene when Daugherty was shot last week, though investigators do not believe he pulled the trigger.
'We can't keep them in [jail], and they're going after each other,' a police source told the New York Post.
A city prosecutor told the Post: 'They don't go to jail, so they do robberies, get in fights and carry guns.
'Life on the streets in 2021.'
Elliott, who just graduated from middle school, had a lengthy criminal record including charges of robbery and assault.
Less than nine hours after Elliot was killed, gang-bangers took revenge for his murder by targeting Ramon Gil-Medrano, 16, about a mile away, according to the Post.
Two males riding scooters pulled up near Gil-Medrano in the Mount Hope section of the Bronx and fatally shot him, according to investigators.
Gil-Medrano, who was linked to the 800 YGz (Young Gunnaz) gang, was at the scene of Elliot’s killing, though it is unclear if he pulled the trigger.
At the time Gil-Medrano was killed, he was wanted by police for an armed carjacking.
There were at least three open cases against Gil-Medrano in family court, according to police.
'What a joke,' a police source told the Post, accusing the criminal justice system of failing to keep dangerous criminals off the street.
'Any other time, he'd have been sitting in Rikers Island.'
The source added: 'It's just ridiculous. It just shows you how bad it is.'
Police are pictured at the scene of a shooting where 13-year-old Jaryan Elliot was killed in the Bronx on Sunday. It was one of six shootings reported around the city in the span of 14 hours
The gunman approached Jaryan in a black vehicle, stepped out and began firing, hitting him once in the chest and once in the leg, police said
An NYPD official examines the scene of the shooting outside Angels Café on East 187th Street in the Belmont neighborhood on Sunday
A New York City police officer took photos of the crime scene on Sunday
A police source told the Post that gangsters took revenge for Elliot’s death because ‘he was crazy and admired by all the gang members, a modern-day Baby Face.’
Baby Face is a reference to Lester Gillis Nelson, the 1930s-era gangster whose nickname stemmed from his youthful appearance.
'People on social media [were] vowing revenge for his murder,' a law enforcement official said of Elliot.
A Bronx-based police officer told the Post: ‘There is a major gang war going on in The Bronx with three teenagers killed in less than a week.
‘Everybody is walking around with a gun because they are more afraid of getting shot than getting arrested.’
The shootings come amid a citywide increase in crime, as more violent attacks occur in public places in the broad daylight.
Shooting and murder rates are up in New York City, according to the NYPD
Elliot's shooting took place within a 14-hour window that saw two other people killed and six others injured in six
