A Bedford-Stuyvesant man has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for fatally shooting a 15-year-old boy at a Bushwick playground in 2018, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced Tuesday.
Elijah Harris, 25, was sentenced by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Donald on Jan. 7, following his October 2024 conviction for second-degree murder, second-degree assault, and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
“This was a despicable act of gun violence that took the life of an innocent teenage boy and left an entire family and community traumatized,” Gonzalez said. “Senseless shootings like this tear at the fabric of our neighborhoods, leaving lasting pain and fear. Everyone deserves to feel secure in their community, and we will continue to hold accountable those who threaten innocent lives with such brazen and callous violence.”
The shooting occurred on July 17, 2018, when Harris, then 19, rode his bike to a playground near 370 and 390 Bushwick Ave. and fired at least nine rounds into a crowded area of the Bushwick Houses. More than 15 people, including children, were gathered in the vicinity.
One of the bullets struck Kyon Jackson, 15, in the chest. The ninth grader at Lyons Community School was rushed to Woodhull Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A 43-year-old man also suffered a graze wound to his cheek during the shooting.
Harris was arrested the following day, and authorities recovered the handgun used in the attack.
Speaking to the Daily News after her only son’s death, Jackson’s mother, Tahesha Carter, expressed her grief.
“He was not the intended target,” Carter said in 2018. “He loved basketball ever since he was 1 year old. He wanted to go to college, play basketball, buy me a house, and get us out of the projects.”
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