Brooklyn teen dies in sister’s arms in stray bullet shooting, with devastated family left to mourn
An innocent Brooklyn teen died in her older sister’s blood-soaked arms after two black-clad gunman opened fire on the street, with her outraged family left Thursday to mourn her random slaying by a stray bullet.
Shayma Roman, 17, was standing with a group of friends outside an Eastern Parkway apartment near Rochester Ave. in Crown Heights about 6:20 p.m. Wednesday when the armed duo approached and fired at least five shots in their direction, witnesses told the Daily News. Two bullets hit the victim.
“She was outside lying on the stoop,” said local resident Sukie Thompson, 21. “Her sister was holding her, crying. She was covered in blood. Everyone from the building came out screaming and surrounding them.”
Roman, who was not the intended target, was hit by one bullet that tore through her chest and a second in her right arm, authorities said. She had just come outside to speak with 19-year-old sibling Tayma when the shooting started, and the older girl witnessed the slaying, according to family members.
“You took a child!,” said her stepfather Anthony. “You took a granddaughter! You took a sister! .... She was sweet, loving, caring, feisty. Tell it like it is.”
Family members said the slain teen’s grandmother fainted after learning of the killing.
Officers found Shayma outside the building entrance in a pool of blood, with a pair of dice and some empty Corona bottles found nearby. The victim, described by relatives as an animal lover with a sweet disposition, died at Brookdale University Hospital.
The suspects fled north on Rochester Ave., with no arrests made and the actual target of the killers unknown at this point, police said.
According to police, a suspect wearing a green-and-black sweatshirt and black pants opened fire first from outside a nearby building. A second shooter in a black jacket then pulled the trigger of his gun.
Multiple 9-mm. shell casings were found on the sidewalk and a ramp leading up to the building’s main entrance.
“I saw her 20 minutes before,” recalled Shayma’s older brother Shakem. “I was riding my bike up Eastern Parkway, coming home, and I seen them sitting right of front of the house ... Then I get home, watching the TV, and we get a call that she was shot.
“That’s my baby sister,” he continued. “She was turning 18 October 30. She’s the youngest.”
Detectives believe the gunmen were not targeting the victim, who has no criminal history, police said.
“She was a good kid, not involved in anything,” one friend told The News, while her brother said Shayma was “not in the streets, none of that.”
The shooting took place a day after 16 people were wounded in eight separate shootings across the city, including a shooting at a Queens park where four people, including two teens, were wounded.
The 77th precinct that covers Crown Heights saw six homicides this year through Sunday compared to nine during the same time frame last year. Shootings are down 38% in the precinct this year, 26 victims through Sunday compared to 42 by the same point last year.
Citywide, murders are down 12% with 321 victims so far this year compared to 364 by this time last year. Shootings citywide are also down 12% with 1,246 victims so far this year compared to 1,411 during the same time frame last year.
