Gangs linked to fatal shooting of 7-year-old Erie boy as accused accomplice goes to court

The gang violence that has erupted in Erie during the pandemic has been connected to the killing of one of the city's youngest victims.

One of the four defendants charged in the April shooting death of 7-year-old Antonio "Espn" Yarger Jr. has been associated with youth gangs, a juvenile probation officer testified at a court hearing for the defendant, Abbas K. Al-Harbi, 17, charged as an accomplice in Antonio's death.

The names of the gangs did not come up in the testimony, and officials at the hearing provided no additional information on whom the accused gunman, Abdullah O. Ismael, 17, might have been targeting when Antonio was killed in a drive-by shooting while Antonio was walking with a group of friends in his Downing Avenue neighborhood on April 14.

Police have said Antonio was an innocent victim in the shooting, which occurred at about 7:40 p.m. at the northwest corner of Fairmount Parkway and Downing Avenue. He was walking among a group of six children, age 13 and younger, police said.

However, the testimony and other evidence at the hearing pointed to the possibility that Antonio was killed when he inadvertently got caught in the middle of a violent dispute between two groups, which might have been gangs. A total of four people, ages 17 to 20, have been charged in Antonio's death. The juveniles are charged as adults due to the nature of the charges.

Two sets of arrests:Two more suspects charged in killing of Erie boy; police say another person was targeted

Al-Harbi is accused of driving a car that was helping another car look for the intended target on April 14, according to arrest records. The other car was carrying the accused gunman, Ismael, who is charged with opening fire from the back seat of that car, police said. Al-Harbi had a gun with him as he drove his car, police said.

The defendants, "cruised the neighborhood looking for an individual they wanted to shoot and kill," the prosecutor, Assistant Erie County District Attorney Jeremy Lightner said at the hearing, before Erie County Judge John J. Mead on Monday.

Al-Harbi was "driving around, essentially as a hit man, looking for a target," Lightner said.

One of the prosecution's witnesses, William Fromyer, an Erie County juvenile probation officer, testified that Al-Harbi had a juvenile record, including for an unprovoked fistfight in the Erie High School cafeteria in October 2019, and was on juvenile probation under his supervision in the spring of 2021. During that time, Al-Harbi was shot in the groin during a confrontation with another juvenile at a Buffalo Road gas station in March 2021, according to Fromyer's testimony and court records.

Also at that time, Fromyer said, Al-Harbi's name had been associated with "multiple gangs. Fromyer said Al-Harbi's name and the names of other juveniles were brought up "with gang-related activities."

Lightner declined to comment after the hearing. More details on Antonio's death are expected to become public at the Aug. 25 preliminary hearing for Al-Harbi and the other three defendants charged in the killing.

The police charged Al-Harbi, Ismael and the others based partly on video surveillance and information from one of the co-defendants, Yassin A. Ibrahim, 20, who is accused of driving the car from which police said Ismael fired the fatal shot, according to court records. A fourth defendant, Yussuf M. Hassan, 20, is accused of providing a Glock 43 handgun to Ismael right before the shooting and being in the other car with Al-Harbi, who was driving.

'Interest-of-justice' hearings and rise of youth gangs

Monday's hearing was known as an interest-of-justice hearing. Mead held it to comply with a new federal law that requires judges to decide whether juveniles charged as adults should stay at juvenile detention centers or get moved to adult prison while they await trial.

Al-Harbi, charged with conspiracy to commit criminal homicide as well as other counts, had been at Erie County's Edmund L. Thomas Adolescent Center without bond since his arrest in July. At the request of the prosecution, Mead on Monday agreed to transfer Al-Harbi to the Erie County Prison.

Mead cited Al-Harbi's age of 17 years and six months, saying that he soon would be an adult under the law. Mead said the prosecution had presented evidence that Al-Harbi played a key role in the shooting of Antonio Yarger, and he said Al-Harbi's "crimes have been increasing in severity" since he was charged in the fight in the Erie High cafeteria in 2019.

Pretrial issue:Juvenile detention or adult prison? New federal law lets Erie County judges decide

Al-Harbi's lawyer, Gene Placidi, argued against a transfer to the Erie County Prison. He questioned the accuracy of the allegations that Al-Harbi might have been involved with gangs, and he said Al-Harbi would benefit by staying at the Edmund L. Thomas Adolescent Center, on the campus of the former Pleasant Ridge Manor East in Millcreek Township.

The center has the capacity for holding 20 juveniles. Twelve were there as of Monday, according to testimony.

Interest-of-justice hearings for juveniles charged as adults have become regular occurrences since the hearings started in the Erie County Court of Common Pleas in April. A number of juvenile defendants have been charged in homicides, shootings and other violent incidents.

Anti-violence initiative:Rise in juvenile offenses leads Unified Erie anti-crime effort to focus on middle school kids

The District Attorney's Office has alleged that many of the incidents were related to disputes among gangs of juveniles, with some of the members as young as middle-school age. Authorities in Erie said the growth of street gangs exploded during the pandemic, as students lacked the structure of school for long periods of time when classes went virtual.

More from court:Prosecution ties shootings to gangs as teen sentenced to state prison in two Erie cases

Two cars and one shooting

In the case of Antonio Yarger Jr.'s death, Erie police used surveillance video from houses and other locations to connect two cars to the fatal shooting: a a gold Chevrolet Cruze and a stolen black Honda CR-V. Police said Ismael fired from the CR-V, which Ibrahim was driving, and that Al-Harbi was driving the Cruze, with Hassan as a passenger.

Ibrahim, who cooperated with police, told investigators that, shortly before the shooting, he was driving the CR-V and following the Cruze as both vehicles headed north on Downing Avenue toward Fairmount Parkway, according to a criminal complaint and probable-cause affidavit filed in the case.

Another case:Feds say Erie 'street gangs' helped deal drugs in 25-defendant trafficking case

As the vehicles approached Fairmount Parkway, the Cruze stopped and backed into Linwood Avenue, just south of Fairmount Parkway, Ibrahim told the police, according to the arrest records. Ibrahim told investigators that Ismael told him to keep driving toward Fairmount Parkway, where Antonio Yarger was walking with his friends just south of Antonio's house on Downing Avenue. Ismael opened fire as the CR-V turned right and headed east on Fairmount Parkway.

At Monday's interest-of-justice hearing, Lightner, the prosecutor, offered an explanation for why the Cruze stopped and backed into Linwood Avenue before the shooting. He said Al-Harbi, upon seeing the group that included Antonio, was concerned that the group would recognize the Cruze, which Lightner said Al-Harbi was known to drive in the neighborhood. The black Honda CR-V was stolen and not as easily recognized, based on what Lightner said in court.

Al-Harbi shot in groin in 2021

On April 14, before the shooting, the defendants congregated at the Speed Check service station at 1505 Buffalo Road, near Camphausen Avenue, according to the arrest records. That was the service station where Al-Harbi was shot in the groin during a confrontation near the gas pumps at about 3:15 p.m. on March 21, 2021, according to court records.

In that case, police said Ismael, the accused shooter in the Yarger case, was with Al-Harbi when another juvenile, Tayveon D. Gillespie, then 17, shot Al-Harbi in the groin. Ismael was charged in that incident with firing at Gillespie, with one of the shots striking an occupied residence.

Shooting from 2021:Police arrest Erie teen wanted on adult charges in attempted killing outside gas station

Ismael was out on bond in the shooting when he was charged in the killing of Antonio Yarger. Gillespie, now 18, pleaded guilty to a felony count of aggravated assault. Judge Mead sentenced him in January to serve 4 ½ to 10 years in state prison.

Awaiting prosecution:17-year-old charged in Erie boy's killing was out on bond in another shooting

Al-Harbi recovered from the gunshot wound. Lightner, the prosecutor, referred to the injury as he asked Mead to transfer Al-Harbi to the Erie County Prison.

Al-Harbi, Lightner said, had been "trying to hunt down individuals in this community" when Antonio was shot. "He knows more than anyone the damage that a firearm can do," Lightner said.

Staff writer Tim Hahn contributed to this report.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Gangs linked to fatal shooting of Erie 7-year-old Antonio Yarger Jr.