A key suspect within the killing of a 61-year-old Harlem grandmother struck by a stray bullet final week as she rushed to test on her grandson has turned himself into police, his lawyer stated Monday.
Ricky Shelby surrendered to authorities on the Manhattan Prison Courthouse on Monday morning, lawyer Alberto Ebanks informed NBC New York. Shelby was needed by the NYPD in connection to final Tuesday’s crossfire taking pictures when a bullet hit and killed Excenia Mette, who was affectionately identified “Mama Zee” within the neighborhood.
Police beforehand arrested Darius Smith for allegedly opening fireplace on Lenox Avenue and West 113th Road, which police say led to the gun battle. Smith faces expenses of tried homicide.
Surveillance video obtained by NBC New York confirmed individuals at a close-by restaurant scrambled as bullets flew, with some taking cowl in a close-by SUV. The video exhibits a person on a scooter racing away as a bullet simply misses him, whizzing previous and hitting the street.
Amid the hail of gunfire, Mette rushed from a magnificence salon to verify her grandson was protected, however she was struck within the head by a stray bullet, police stated.
“That’s the person that she is. When you’re a protector, when you’re loving like that. When you’re an empath, that’s how you move,” stated Makeba Reece. “She died doing what she does: loving and protecting.”
Mette was a neighborhood enterprise proprietor and a beloved fixture within the neighborhood who was identified for feeding the hungry and serving to anybody in want.
“They took a soul who was very loving. Who supported the community. Who was there, who loved everyone. Who was a matriarch. They’re destroying a community like this,” Reece stated.
Mayor Eric Adams went to the scene on Wednesday, calling the taking pictures a “horrific incident that took the life of a grandmother.”
Police stated Mette’s grandson, who she rushed to test on, was not believed to have been concerned within the taking pictures.
