12-Year-Old Boy Is Charged in Killing of 15-Year-Old Cousin in Brooklyn
The New York Times
The 12-year-old was arrested hours after the police said he fatally shot another boy, Jasai Guy, in an apartment in the Brownsville neighborhood.
About 150 people gathered outside an apartment building in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn Monday evening for a somber purpose: to pay tribute to Jasai Guy, a 15-year-old boy who, the police said, had been fatally shot by a 12-year-old cousin.
Mourners lit votive candles, wrote messages on a poster board and clutched blue and white balloons. About a dozen New York City firefighters, colleagues of the dead teenager’s father, were among those in the crowd.
Cassandra Vassell, who identified herself as Jasai’s maternal grandmother, told the mourners that her grandson was a “sweet child” and that “what we need right now is prayers.”
Also at the vigil was Derelle Guy, Jasai’s father, who described his son as a “beautiful soul.”
“Know who Jasai Guy was,” Mr. Guy said. “He was an honors student. He was a spelling bee champion of the division. He was a track star. As his friends said, he inspired them to be better.”
The 12-year-old, who has not been publicly identified because of his age, was charged with second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, officials said.
