Arrest in deadly shooting of teen, wounding of 2 in Bronx

A 17-year-old boy was arrested Saturday morning in the killing a day earlier of a 16-year-old girl in the Bronx and the wounding of two other teens in the same shooting, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said Saturday afternoon.

Jeremiah Ryan faces charges of murder, attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon in the shooting death of teen Angellyh Yambo, Sewell said. The victims were innocent bystanders.

The shooting occurred after a man was seen about 1:40 p.m. standing at the corner of 156th Street and St. Ann’s Avenue in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx. A male was gesturing to someone else in a dispute when he pulled out a handgun and began firing, police said. The 16-year-old girl was struck in the chest and pronounced dead at NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, while a second 16-year-old girl was wounded in the shin and a 17-year-old boy was hit in the buttocks, according to the NYPD.

"While Angellyh's loved ones are devastated, we can pray that this arrest brings them some sense of solace," Sewell said.

Neither Sewell nor other NYPD leaders said why they believe Ryan was the shooter.

Chief Timothy McCormack, who is in charge of Bronx borough detectives, said the 17-year-old has no criminal record. The two female victims were about a half a block away, and a third victim was a block away. Six shots were fired.

"This case is not finished yet. It's just the beginning. We are still processing crime scenes. We are still doing work with Jeremiah," he said. He added, "We have two families that are completely destroyed right now: our victim's family and our shooter's family, a hardworking woman raising a child that has zero police contact at all."

Separately, Sewell and chief of detectives James Essig on Friday announced the arrest of two Bronx men in the killing of Juana Esperanza Soriano De-Perdomo, 61, on Monday. She was shot in the back as an innocent bystander after leaving a bodega on East 188th Street by the Grand Concourse.

Charged with murder, manslaughter and other offenses were Donald Johnson, 20, and Rakell Hampton, 33, Sewell said. Both men have lengthy criminal histories, Sewell added. 

Essig said the suspects, who are brothers, were arrested early Friday morning without incident. Hampton is a Bloods gang member with 11 prior arrests and was out on bail in an earlier gun case.

“This is another example of the pointless violence on the streets of our city,” Sewell told reporters at a police headquarters news conference Friday. She said other people believed to be involved in the shooting of De-Perdomo were being investigated and may be arrested.

Earlier in the week, Essig described how two groups of men near the bodega were arguing over vendor spots on the sidewalk when the shooting started. 

The latest spate of shootings comes in a week when the NYPD acknowledged that shootings increased in March by about 36% over the same period last year. Total serious crimes are up more than 44% this year, police said.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.com,chayesmatthew,

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.