Brooklyn boy, 12, charged with manslaughter in ‘nightmare’ shooting of 15-year-old cousin
A 12-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting his 15-year-old cousin in Brooklyn has been charged with manslaughter, cops said Monday.
Victim Jasai Guy and his younger cousin were being watched by their grandparents when the incident took place, but it is unclear how they got their hands on the weapon, according to police.
“I’m not good,” said Jasai’s grandfather, Eric Guy, who was sleeping when the shot was fired. “I’m sick right now about it. I really can’t form thoughts.
“I’m trying to get myself together,” the torn grandfather told the Daily News.
Sources said the gun belonged to Jasai’s father, an FDNY firefighter. The victim’s dad posted on social media that he was on vacation two days before the shooting and a source said he was still away at the time of the death.
Jasai, who lived with his family in Brownsville’s Howard Houses where the shooting took place, was a popular teen known as a talented basketball player who dreamed of being recruited by the NBA.
“He was a loving child,” said Jasai’s maternal grandmother, Cassandra Vassell. “Very, very smart. He even made it to the spelling bee at I.S. 61.”
Vassell was not in the apartment when Jasai was killed.
“He has his little group of friends [and] they all are like, geeks,” said Vassell, 50. “They play video games and talk to each other on their headsets.
“Everyone is in pain right now from this,” she added. “They’re so hurt. When he came to us, he was such a blessing.”
The teen was shot in the chest in his fifth-floor apartment on Osborn St. near Pitkin Ave. around 10:25 a.m. Sunday. A police source told amNewYork that Jasai’s grandfather had taken a bunch of sleeping pills and was asleep when shots rang out.
“I didn’t mean to do it,” the victim’s cousin told first responders as Jasai was taken on a stretcher out of the building, a neighbor told The News on Sunday.
“I shot my cousin by accident,” the 12-year-old told cops, according to amNewYork. “I don’t want him to die.”
Medics took Jasai to Brookdale University Hospital, but he could not be saved.
On top of manslaughter, the cousin was charged with criminally negligent homicide and criminal possession of a weapon. Police did not release his name due to his age.
Following a Monday hearing, the boy was released into the custody of his mother until his next court date.
At a Monday night memorial held in Jasai’s honor, the teen’s father asked mourners in attendance to keep his nephew in their prayers.
“He’s an innocent child and he had no ill intent in his heart,” said Derelle Guy.
About 200 mourners, including dozens of FDNY firefighters and EMTs, attended the vigil.
As balloons were released into the sky, the crowd shouted, “Long live Jasai!”
“Y’all can say whatever the f— you want to say about me, but my son was an angel,” said the father. “He was the most perfect kid I could ever ask for.”
The slain teen was terrified of guns, according to his grandmother, and would not play with one.
“He’s very afraid,” said Vassell. “When the [Bronx D] train got shot up he didn’t go to school for a week. He wouldn’t get on the train.”
Jasai’s aunt reiterated that the boy would have never picked up a gun.
“He was smart, innocent,” said Nathifa Guy. “He was an honor student. He didn’t play with guns. It was an accident.”
The family, particularly Jasai’s mother, is living in a “nightmare” in wake of the shooting, relatives said.
“His mom is not taking it well,” said Vassell. “They say it was an accident. I’m more concerned with my daughter. Her well-being, her mental state.”
Jasai had a younger half-sister and took his role as big brother very seriously.
“She mimics everything he does,” Vassell said through tears. “The way he talks, the way he walks.
“He loves being a big brother,” she added.
Jasai’s father recalled his son’s big ambitions.
“He told me about how he was going to go to a [Historically Black College and University] and study law,” Guy said Monday. “Then he was going to go overseas and play ball for two years. That was Jasai. That’s who my son was.”
In a brief interview with The News, mother Tiffany Guy described her late son as “a wonderful child.”
“I don’t know what to say,” the heartbroken parent said late Monday as she was surrounded by overwhelmed friends. “I don’t know what to say. I don’t have words.
“I’m just trying to hold on.”
