The attack, which also left two other people injured, occurred shortly before 4:00 in the afternoon, at the corner of Southern Boulevard and Westchester Avenue, near the elevated 2 and 5 Metro lines. Kelsey was rushed to Lincoln Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after admission. Authorities indicated that a 15-year-old suffered a lip laceration, while a 38-year-old man arrived on his own at the same hospital with a gunshot wound to his left leg. Both are in stable condition. The crime scene, just a mile from the public housing complex Butler Houses, where Kelsey resided, was surrounded by patrol cars, police tape, and neighborhood shock. Hours later, family and friends organized a spontaneous vigil in honor of the young man. On the sidewalk, dozens of lit candles formed his nickname: “Fatz”. So far, the New York Police Department (NYPD) has not confirmed the motive for the shooting nor established a link between the victims and the aggressors. Three suspects are said to have fled the scene, but no arrests have yet been made. Authorities are asking anyone with information to contact the line confidentially at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or in Spanish at 1-888-57-PISTA (74782), as well as through the portal crimestoppers.nypdonline.org. Kelsey’s death adds to a string of recent violent events that have put communities across the city on alert. Last week, a 27-year-old man was arrested for the death of his friend during an argument in front of a bodega in The Bronx. Days earlier, in Queens, a man was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head inside a car with California plates. In Brooklyn, Tamika Powell, a mother of two daughters, was shot in the head after an argument with a masked man who followed her from a barbecue to the vicinity of the Barclays Center. And in another dramatic episode, a teenager accidentally killed his 14-year-old friend while handling a firearm in a Queens residence. These facts reflect a worrying trend of youth violence in public and private spaces in the city. At the end of June, in the hot midday sun, 17-year-old Darrell Harris died from a gunshot wound while playing with water guns in a Bronx park, after a heated argument. Community organizations and gun control policy advocates have once again demanded concrete actions to curb access to firearms, especially among young people. “This is no longer an isolated case, it’s an epidemic,” declared a community leader during the vigil in honor of Kelsey.
Meanwhile, families like that of the young man murdered are facing mourning with unanswered questions. “Fatz was a cheerful boy, full of dreams”, his cousin told the local channel BronxNet. “He didn’t deserve to die like that, in the middle of the street, as if his life was worth nothing”.
