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The four shootings, which authorities believe to be gang-related, happened in Yonkers over the months of March, May, and June, and resulted in the arrests of four teenagers and a 20-year-old man, according to Yonkers Police.
The arrests stemmed from an investigation prompted by a fatal shooting on Wednesday, May 31 around 8:20 p.m., when police responded to the area of 55 Morris St. on a reported incident.
Once arriving, officers found an unresponsive man identified as 19-year-old Daquon Powell of Yonkers on the street next to a black sedan with numerous gunshot wounds in his abdomen. First responders then rendered CPR and took Powell to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries.
A second 18-year-old victim involved in the Morris Street incident was also found with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his leg.
Following the fatal shooting, the department then began an extensive investigation that determined Powell had been driving the black sedan east on Morris Street when he had stopped in front of house number 55. When the passenger then left the car, an armed assailant had then ran up to the vehicle and fired six shots, hitting Powell six times and the passenger one time.
The gunman, along with two other accomplices, then ran from the scene. According to police, the three suspects had been waiting for Powell to arrive and executed him as part of a gang-related assassination.
As the investigation continued, detectives identified more suspects and determined that the armed assailant who had allegedly murdered Powell was from another state. His two accomplices were also found to have been involved in another shooting incident that had happened on Saturday, May 13 in the area of 100 Livingston Ave., where a 42-year-old Brooklyn man had been shot once in the chest and survived in critical condition.
Yonkers Police also responded to a third shooting incident on Sunday, June 4 around 4:10 p.m. in the area of 77 Riverdale Ave. while in the midst of their investigation. During this incident, a gunman had allegedly fired seven shots at two people riding dirt bikes that missed and struck a random vehicle across the street occupied by two brothers in their 30s who had been delivering food to a cancer patient. Luckily, the two men were not injured.
Police determined that this shooting was also gang-related and that the same weapon used in the Riverdale Avenue shooting had likely been used to murder Powell.
Eventually, police were able to identify the suspects in all of the shooting incidents and worked to arrest them on Tuesday, June 6, and Wednesday, June 7.
During the execution of search warrants that resulted in the arrests, two semiautomatic 9mm pistols were recovered. One was thrown out of a window as police closed in, while one was recovered from one of the 16-year-old suspects. Both were unlawfully possessed, police said.
The suspects were identified as:
- Matthew Quinones, age 20, of Danbury Connecticut, who was charged with second-degree murder for allegedly murdering Powell;
- A 17-year-old Yonkers resident who was charged with second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and second-degree conspiracy in connection with the Livingston Avenue shooting and being present for the Morris Street fatal shooting;
- A 16-year-old Yonkers resident who was charged with second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and second-degree conspiracy in connection with the Livingston Avenue shooting and being present for the Morris Street fatal shooting;
- A 16-year-old Yonkers resident who was charged with second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and second-degree conspiracy in connection with the Livingston Avenue shooting. He also was charged with hindering prosecution in connection with a Thursday, March 23 on Elliott Avenue that resulted in no injuries;
- An 18-year-old who allegedly perpetrated the Riverdale Avenue shooting who has not yet been arrested. He was 17 at the time of the shooting, police said.
Quinones was arraigned in Yonkers Criminal Court on Wednesday, June 7, and was then remanded to the custody of Westchester County Jail. He will next appear in court on Friday, June 23.
Three of the juvenile suspects were arraigned and taken to a local juvenile detention facility pending their next hearing. Their names will not be released because of their ages, police said.
Anyone with information regarding any of the incidents is asked to call Yonkers Police at (914) 377-7724.
This is a developing story. Check back to Daily Voice for updates.
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