CONEY ISLAND, Brooklyn (PIX11) — A 13-year-old boy accused of murder was among three teens arrested late Sunday in connection to the fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old boy in Coney Island, according to authorities.
The youngest of the three is charged with the Jan. 20 murder of Nyheem Wright, while two other boys, 14 and 15, are both charged with assault and gang assault, officials said. Police did not publicly identify the teens by name due to their age.
They’re accused of being among a group of at least six teens who attacked Wright on Mermaid Avenue near West 30th Street around 3:20 p.m., authorities said.
Wright was walking with friends when they got into an argument with another group, according to police. Words escalated and the assailants allegedly chased Wright for several blocks before one of the pursuers took out a weapon and stabbed him.
Wright was trying to help a girl caught in the middle of the dispute, but the group turned on him, sources told PIX11 News. He was rushed to an area hospital, where he died the next day.
Wright was a senior at Liberation Diploma Plus High School, expected to graduate in March. His mother said he would have been the first of her nine sons to receive a high school diploma.
“Everybody loved him. He had friends, he brought people together,” said Simone Brooks. “They don’t know what they took from us.”
Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
