NYC family mourns slain boy, 10; borough president laments 'Black on Black violence' amid shooting surge

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Backlash grows over defund the police movement in New York City

Fox News correspondent Bryan Llenas has the details from Queens, NY on 'America Reports'

During the funeral for a 10-year-old boy in New York City who was gunned down at his aunt’s home in a shooting that authorities say was prompted by a parking dispute, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards reminded attendees that "Black lives matter" as the city deals with pervasive gun violence and rising crime more than a year since the death of George Floyd.

More than 200 people crowded the Tabernacle Church in Far Rockaway on Monday to attend the funeral service for Justin Wallace, who was fatally shot around 9:30 p.m. June 5 – just three days before his 11th birthday – at his aunt’s home in the same Queens neighborhood. 

"Justin deserved to blow out candles for his 11th birthday," Richards told the crowd, according to the New York Daily News. "Justin should have been celebrating his graduation with his classmates at Challenge Prep Academy this year. Justin deserved to live to see his dreams come true. He had so much to live for, but yet we see another young Black man’s dreams deferred due to Black on Black violence."

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"We are normalizing this violence in communities like Far Rockaway, but this is not normal," Richards continued. "Because today it’s Justin, tomorrow it could be your child. Black lives matter, but they must matter to us as well. Say his name: Justin Wallace."

The suspected gunman, 29-year-old Jovan Young, was arrested days later and charged with murder, attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon. He was remanded without bail before an arraignment hearing last week.  

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea has previously said a dispute broke out at a barbeque earlier in the day of the shooting over parking in the shared driveway at the Far Rockaway home. Surveillance video shows a masked man returned later that evening in an SUV, got out and reached his arm through a metal railing before firing several rounds toward the home. 

Justin’s cousin, 29-year-old Kyle Forrester, was also injured in the shooting – and attended the funeral wearing heavy bandages after being shot three times in the back, once in the hand, and once in the neck.

"I’m just horrified about what happened," Forrester told reporters outside the ceremony. "Having to tell my 6-year-old girls about them losing Justin is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do."

Another speaker at the funeral was NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey, who told attendees that the police department needs support from the community in order to address rising gun violence. 

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"My faith is shaken on this one, bad. It really is," Maddrey, who leads the NYPD’s Community Affairs Bureau, said.  "And I don’t know what the answer is, or why. Maybe this is God’s message to me personally that I have to recommit myself to taking care of this community."

Family and friends embrace Albert Wallace next to the open casket of his son, 10-year-old Justin Wallace, who was shot and killed when a shooter fired rounds at a home on June 5 in the Far Rockaway section of Queens, during his viewing before the funeral at the Full Gospel Tabernacle in New York City, June 21, 2021.  (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

"I cannot do it alone. The Police Department cannot do it alone," he added. "We need each and every one of you to join in this, because we cannot bury another son."

At one point during the funeral ceremony, Wallace’s classmates from Challenge Charter School stood up and recited the school pledge, WABC reported. He would have moved on from the fifth grade to attend middle school next fall. 

His sister, 23-year-old Takeshi Lilly-Pinnock, described Justin as a "miracle baby," saying her brother loved math, cars, technology, dancing, YouTube and Fortnite. His casket was adorned with an equation and images from the video game. 

The boy’s father, Albert Wallace, addressed attendees, asking why neighbors can’t get along.  

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"Why they do this to my son?" the father cried. "Why? I was always there for my family. I do everything for my family. Why can’t we get along as neighbors? I love you, my neighbor. My son, my son. Why?"

Two weeks ago, police announced a second arrest in connection to the shooting after weapons were found at the home of 26-year-old Astram Lochan, Fox 5 NY reported. He is believed to have been involved in the parking dispute and was charged with three counts of criminal possession of a weapon and four counts of criminal possession of a firearm. 

Over a year since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the issue of defunding police has come to the forefront of the Democratic primary mayoral race in New York City, as candidates address police and bail reform amid surging violent crime across the nation’s largest city by population. 

NYPD crime citywide crime statistics showed a 73% increase in shootings last month compared to the same time last year. There had been 173 shootings by May 2021, compared to the 100 seen by May 2020. Citywide crime statistics have not yet been released for the month of June. 

On the same Saturday night Wallace was shot in Queens, NYPD officers across the city in Manhattan’s Washington Square Park were dealing with a large disorderly crowd of about 100 people protesting the newly instituted curfew put in place amid spikes of violent crime at the park after dark.