Police say May 31 Yonkers murder was gang-related, one man charged in fatal shooting
YONKERS – A Danbury, Connecticut, man has been accused of second-degree murder for the Morris Street fatal shooting of 19-year-old Yonkers resident Daquon Powell on May 31, in what the police said was one of several gang-related incidents in recent weeks.
The accused, Matthew Quinones, 20, was arraigned June 7 on the Morris Street murder charge in Yonkers Criminal Court and ordered held in Westchester County Jail, the police and city officials said at Monday’s news conference. The next scheduled court date is June 23.
The police allege people were with Quinones, but no one else has been charged in the Morris Street killing. Police said they believe Quinones and others were lying in wait for Powell in a driveway.
Police responded about 8:20 p.m. to the 55 Morris St. area for a report of a shooting victim. Powell, who police said they found unresponsive down on the street with multiple gunshot wounds next to a black sedan, was given CPR on scene but later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Powell drove the sedan, according to the police. An 18-year-old male was the front-seat passenger in the sedan, which had been traveling east on Morris Street when it stopped at 55 Morris.
As the front-seat passenger exited, an assailant ran up and fired six times through the driver’s side window, striking Powell six times and the passenger one time. The police said one of the shots struck both Powell and the passenger.
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The passenger suffered a non-life-threatening wound to the leg, according to police.
Quinones and two people who were allegedly with him fled the scene.
The police said Monday that two people who allegedly had been present with Quinones on Morris Street, but haven’t been charged in that incident, were involved in a May 13 incident in the area of 100 Livingston Ave., where a Brooklyn man, 42, was shot once in the chest and survived but in critical condition. The police characterized them as Yonkers residents, one 16 and the other 17, each charged with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and second-degree conspiracy for roles in the Livingston Avenue shooting.
A third Yonkers resident, 16, has also been charged with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and second-degree conspiracy for his role in the Livingston Avenue shooting, police said.
Police did not identify any of them, saying they were adolescent offenders.
As investigation continued, police responded to a June 4 shooting at about 4:10 p.m. in the 77 Riverdale Ave. area. A gunman allegedly fired at least seven shots at two people riding dirt bikes. The shot missed them, but did strike a random vehicle across the street that was occupied by two brothers in their 30s. No one was injured.
The police believe that shooting, targeting the people on dirt bikes, was also gang related, and said the gun used in the Riverdale Avenue shooting was likely the same one used to shoot Powell on Morris Street.
Police said that detectives are working to locate and charge another person, who is now 18 but was 17 at the time, as the person who allegedly fired the shots on Riverdale Avenue.
The police said that officers, using search warrants at Riverdale Avenue, recovered two semiautomatic pistols. One was thrown out a window as police approached, according to the police, and another was recovered from one of the 16-year-olds who is accused in the Livingston Avenue shooting. Both guns were illegally possessed, police said.
“Yonkers remains one of the safest of the big 5 cities in New York state, thanks to the hard work, skills, and training of our Yonkers Police Department," Mayor Mike Spano said in a news release. "Far too many young people are following the wrong path and if they become a threat to public safety or themselves, they will be arrested. I applaud the Yonkers Police Department on this investigation, and I hope these juvenile offenders are swiftly brought to justice to avoid any repetitive crimes in our City.”
The statement said Spano has directed increased motor and foot patrols in areas where many incidents have occurred, so "residents and community members should expect to see a strengthened presence of both uniform and plain-clothes officers engaged in public safety activities."
Police Commissioner Chris Sapienza said, “Now it is up to the courts to make sure that these individuals, regardless of age, are held fully accountable to the maximum extent of the law.:The police asked that anyone with information call the Yonkers Police Detective Division at (914) 377-7724, saying that all calls may remain confidential. Anonymous tips can be sent by texting the key word YPD plus the tip to CRIMES (274637), police said, and anonymous tips can also be sent through the Yonkers Police website by clicking on the submit a tip button.
Michael McKinney is a breaking news reporter for The Journal News, Poughkeepsie Journal and Times Herald-Record of Middletown.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Yonkers NY fatal shooting gang-related, one charged
