Police: Theft Of Hoverboard Spurred Deadly Shooting Of 12-Year-Old Hempstead Girl
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- It was an emotional day in court on Long Island where a man charged in a stray bullet shooting that killed a 12-year-old girl went before a judge.
Jakwan Keller, 20, faces murder and weapons charges in the death of 12-year-old Dejah Joyner, who authorities said was shot in her own home last October.
Nassau County police arrested Keller as he drove a BMW Sunday morning not far from where they said he fired the gun from the street that ended the seventh-grade Girl Scout's life.
Acting Nassau Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter said Monday that the motive for the shooting was gang retaliation for the theft of a hoverboard.
"The defendant's brother was the victim in that case," Krumpter said.
Police said Keller is a member of the Bloods gang and was allegedly taking aim at a rival gang member on Oct. 16 when Joyner was killed, CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported. The young girl was helping serve dinner when a bullet smashed through her front window and struck her in the head, police said. She died the next day.
Keller was driving a luxury car when police picked him up on Sunday, about a half a mile from his home in Hempstead, CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reported.
"This is a heinous act committed by a coward, we want to make sure he's brought to justice and there's not some retaliation for the shooting," Krumpter said.
The intended target was in "proximity of the home," but Krumpter refused to provide further details.
The shooting outraged a community grappling with gun violence.
"I think this has brought unity to the community," said Lamont Johnson, president of the Hempstead Schools Board of Education. "I think it was at a boiling point where people were saying enough is enough and we have to get together, we have to love one another, stop hurting each other."
Dejah's family has since moved from their Dartmouth Street home. For months, the case remain unsolved as community leaders urged those who had information to defy gang culture and come forward.
"When a crime like this happens, someone should always step forward," Johnson said. "There's no-snitching, that type of thinking, there's no place for that. If something happens like this and you know something, you have to say something."
Officials credit tips and surveillance video with helping to close the case.
"The residents of Hempstead cooperated with the Nassau County police and with one voice we let this individual know and other members of that community know that this kind of conduct will not be tolerated," Krumpter said.
"Nassau County Crime Stoppers received over 40 calls," Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano said.
More than half of the tips police received did have some value and someone may be collecting on a $75,00 reward, Gusoff reported.
There were tense moments in court for Keller's arraignment Monday. Family members and supporters of the accused shouted "we believe in you," while relatives of the innocent victim silently sobbed, CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported.
Keller pleaded not guilty to the charges and is being held without bail.
For Dejah's grieving family, the arrest offers a chance at justice.
"Justice will prevail...we have been going through turmoil," the girl's grandmother said.
"Why did he do it?," her grandfather, David Joyner, said. "That's the only thing I can say. Why did he do it?"
Keller is no stranger to police, Gusoff reported. He was arrested at age 17 for allegedly fleeing from police then ramming a stolen vehicle he was driving into a patrol car.
He later sued Nassau and Hempstead police for allegedly using excessive force, which he claimed was a violation of his civil rights.