FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Fourteen-Year-Old Indicted for Shooting Death of Innocent Honor Student
On Basketball Court in Brownsville Park
Defendant Allegedly Shot the Victim in the Head
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Brownsville teenager has been indicted on murder and related charges stemming from the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old boy while he was playing basketball in Chester Park in Brownsville.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This tragic shooting claimed the life of a promising teenager with a bright future and endangered the lives of many others. Senseless gun violence like this is destroying too many lives, including, in this case, the young defendant who allegedly fired the gun. We will now seek justice for the victim and his heartbroken loved ones.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Aaron Nathaniel, 14, of Brownsville, Brooklyn. The defendant was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Craig Walker on an indictment in which he is charged with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. If convicted of the top count he faces 15 years to life in prison.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on September 21, 2018, at approximately 3:50 p.m., in Chester Park, on Chester Street, in Brownsville, the defendant allegedly opened fire on a crowd of people on a basketball court, striking the victim, Oluwadurotimi Oyebola, 16, of Queens, once in the head. The victim was taken to Brookdale Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The defendant was arrested on October 3, 2018, following an investigation. The shooting was captured on video surveillance and following his arrest, the defendant made statements to police in which he admitted to the shooting and said the victim was not the intended target.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Howard L. Jackson, Deputy Chief of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Marybeth Allen, of the Orange Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Timothy Gough, Homicide Bureau Chief.
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An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.