Jovan Young Queens man charged in shooting death of Justin Wallace, 10 year old boy attending Far Rockaway BBQ over driveway dispute.
A Queens man has been charged with murder following the weekend shooting death of a 10 year old boy who was killed while attending a barbecue at his aunt’s house.
Jovan Young, who surrendered to cops on Tuesday appeared in front of a Queens Criminal Court on Wednesday, following Saturday’s deadly shooting sparked by a dispute over a shared driveway.
Young was charged with the second-degree murder of ten year old boy, Justin Wallace. The child died after Young fired off a hail of bullets into his target’s home, only to fatally strike the boy along with injuring an adult relative.
‘There isn’t a parent alive who doesn’t mourn this family’s loss, another tragic result from gun violence,’ Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement.
‘The defendant allegedly fired repeatedly into an occupied house, (and) is now in custody and faces justice in our courts,’ Katz said.
10 year old boy killed after bullet enters heart & left lung
Police released surveillance video showing Young sticking a gun through a wrought-iron gate and firing no less than 8 times at the home in Far Rockaway, fatally striking Wallace and injuring the boy’s 29-year-old cousin.
The boy’s cousin, Kyle Forester, was hit in the back and neck and was listed in critical condition after the shooting, the nypost reported.
Justin died after a bullet entered his heart and left lung.
At the time of his death, the fifth grader attended Challenge Preparatory Charter School in Far Rockaway.
Queens Assistant District Attorney Bryan Kotowski said in court that Young had been picked out of three photo arrays by witnesses.
‘The defendant did make efforts to conceal evidence in committing this crime,’ Kotowski told Acting Supreme Court Justice Toko Serita according to the nypost.
‘When he did speak to police the first time he came in, he was not truthful with respect to his whereabouts and his actions with respect to the crime,’ he said. ‘And that was three days prior to him surrendering himself to the precinct.’
@NYPDDetectives arrest 29 year old Jovan Young in murder of 10 year old Justin Wallace last Saturday in Far Rockaway, Queens NY He’s charged with murder, attempted murder & weapons possession. #streetsoldiers #hot97 @fox5ny pic.twitter.com/J7p6NyLjIi
— LISA EVERS (@LisaEvers) June 9, 2021
Suspect’s family insists he is innocent and being framed
Young’s family countered, claimed that he was being framed for the crime.
‘He called from the police station and said the police almost broke his arm,’ Young’s mother, Initia Young, told the nypost. ‘He said he wants a lawyer because he didn’t do what they’re saying and they’re charging him with something he didn’t do. That’s what he told me on the phone.’
Young’s girlfriend, meanwhile, claimed he was trying to calm things down.
‘He did admit he was in the car trying to diffuse the situation,’ his ex-girlfriend, who has two children with him, said Wednesday.
Young surrendered to police on what would’ve been Justin’s 11th birthday.
‘At the end of the day, I know my son and he isn’t a killer,’ Inita Young reiterated.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea in a public statement on Wednesday, held firm to the NYPD‘s conviction that Young was indeed the gunman.
Asked if cops were looking for other suspects, Shea said, ‘not at this time,’ WPIX11 reported..”
Along with murder, Jovan Young also faces two counts of criminal possession of a weapon as well as second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault of Wallace’s cousin.
If convicted, Young faces a prison sentence of 25 years to life.
