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Sept. 17 - Sept. 23, 2021
Indictment announced in 2019 fatal
shooting of 14-year-old Aamir Griffi n
BY BILL PARRY
Sean Brown, 18, was indicted
by a grand jury and arraigned
in Queens Supreme
Court on murder and weapons
charges for the killing of
14-year-old Aamir Griffin in
2019, Queens District Attorney
Melinda Katz announced on
Wednesday, Sept. 8, along with
NYPD Chief of Department
Rodney Harrison at the Baisley
Park Houses basketball courts
in South Jamaica.
The reputed gang member
allegedly sought to shoot and
kill a rival on the very same
basketball courts when he mistook
the high school freshman
for his intended target.
“At the very bare minimum,
when our kids go to the park,
families should know they
are coming home,” Katz said.
“Death by gun violence is always
heartbreaking. The death
of Aamir Griffin hit our community
particularly hard.”
Katz described Griffin as a
“promising young student and
athlete whose life was tragically
cut short.”
“Aamir Griffin was the unintended
victim. His family and
friends are still reeling from
his killing,” Katz said. “After a
thorough investigation, the alleged
killer now faces justice in
our courts.”
Brown, of Jamaica, was
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announces the indictment of Sean Brown in the murder of
14-year-old Aamir Griffin. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
arraigned Wednesday before
Queens Supreme Court Justice
Kenneth Holder on an indictment
charging him with
murder in the second degree
and criminal possession of a
weapon in the second degree.
Brown was ordered held without
bail and given a return date
of Sept. 14.
If convicted, he faces up to
25 years to life in prison.
Katz said that around 8
p.m. on Oct. 26, 2019, Aamir
Griffin was playing basketball
at the Baisley Park Houses.
From nearby Foch Boulevard,
Brown allegedly mistook the
youngster for a rival gang
member and allegedly fired
three shots from a .380-caliber
firearm.
One bullet penetrated Griffin’s
upper chest, piercing both
lungs. Griffin was rushed by
EMS to Jamaica Hospital and
died a short time later.
“Aamir Griffin was a child
of New York City, a kid who was
loved and taken much too soon
by the kind of senseless gun
violence we fight against every
hour of every day,” NYPD
Police Commissioner Dermot
Shea said. “Nothing could
erase the pain of Aamir’s murder
nearly to years ago, but our
NYPD investigators and our
partners in the Queens district
attorney’s office never forget or
give up and today we have an
indictment that offers one measure
of justice.”
Video footage allegedly
shows Brown running from the
area after the shots were fired,
entering a nearby deli and
walking to the home of another
reputed Money World gang
member. Surveillance video
also picks up Brown allegedly
telling others, “I seen that n—-,
I hit him. That n—- drop.”
Investigators tracked
Brown down recently in Los
Angeles before he was extradited
back to Queens by NYPD
detectives last weekend.
“All homicides are very
important to the NYPD but
this one hit close to home to
me,” Harrison said. “I grew
up a mile away from here. I
played basketball here on the
same basketball court. Me and
Aamir went to the very same
high school, Benjamin Cardozo.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am
Aamir Griffin.”
Legendary basketball coach
Ron Naclerio, who would have
coached the youngster at Cardozo,
attended the press briefing
at Baisley Park Houses.
“It is unfortunate Aamir
couldn’t be here looking forward
to starting his junior
year, looking at Division 1
colleges and possibly a future
at the NBA,” Naclerio said.
“I am happy for the family
that they got the suspect off
the street. I hope it doesn’t
happen again.”
Additional reporting by
Lloyd Mitchell.
Vol. 9 No. 38 36 total pages
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