Crimeupdated 26m ago3 min read
Archive photo · 8 June 202217-Year-Old Charged With Murder in Javits Frimpong Shooting in Bronx
“His father believes the killing may be linked to ongoing bullying his son experienced at school.”
“It remains unclear whether the suspect and the victim knew one another.”
Photo: Jim.henderson, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped for layout
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Javits Frimpong, 15, Ghanaian immigrant, was shot on his way to school. A 17-year-old male suspect was arrested and charged with murder, manslaughter and weapons offenses.
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Arrest and charges
A 17-year-old was arrested and charged with murder in the Oct. 29 shooting death of 15-year-old Javits Frimpong in the Bronx, and police took the suspect to the NYPD’s 42nd Precinct for questioning Wednesday morning.
The suspect faced charges of murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon, and the NYPD said it would be “relentless in our efforts to get dangerous people out of our communities.”
Thomas Frimpong said he was happy to learn that someone was charged in his son’s death, and he described hearing that his son “had been shot” on the “29th day of October.”
Police said Frimpong was shot in the stomach while walking to school near Crotona Park, and officers transported him to St. Barnabas Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
The arrest came as attorneys representing Frimpong’s family held a news conference in Harlem, and investigators had previously been searching for three teenage boys believed to be connected to the shooting.
Family, bullying, and court
Doris Gyamfi, Javits’ mother, broke down sobbing at a press conference and said, “I need justice for my child,” adding, “That’s all, I have only one child.” Thomas Frimpong told reporters that he brought Javits from Ghana “to continue his education here in the United States,” and he said Javits was “very, very, very excited.” Attorney Ben Crump said the family wanted “these, apparently, kids who murdered Javits to be held fully accountable under the law,” and he pressed for a full investigation by the Department of Education into what officials knew and when they knew it.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said investigators were examining bullying and other possible motives, including robbery, and he said, “The alleged bullying is one aspect that we’re looking at, as well as some others.” The suspect was expected to be arraigned in Bronx Criminal Court, and the NYPD said it had not ruled out other arrests as the investigation continued.
What happens next
The case has prompted calls for accountability tied to school bullying, with Javits’ family saying he told them he was being bullied at DreamYard Preparatory School where he attended.
CBS News reported that Crump said it was too soon to say whether school officials were negligent, and Crump said, “We want to know why he was being bullied, when they found out he was being bullied, and what did they do when he was being bullied.”
The New York City Public Schools’ Chancellor Kamar Samuels said the administration was working to provide extensive support to the school with counseling and restorative teams, and he said, “No child should ever be unsafe in school or in their community.”
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was told by President Donald Trump that Javits’ mother was granted a visa to travel to the U.S. for his funeral, and Mamdani said, “All of New York City is mourning this tragedy.”
A funeral for Frimpong was scheduled for Nov. 20, and the arrest was also described as coming just hours before the family’s attorneys held a news conference in Harlem.