In the spring of 2022, a bright and outgoing 11-year-old girl of Cambodian and Puerto Rican heritage named Kyhara Tay was tragically killed in the Bronx, New York. On the afternoon of May 16, while waiting for friends outside a nail salon on Westchester Avenue, her life was cut short by a stray bullet. She was not the intended target of the violence that erupted that day.
Two teenagers on a scooter were chasing and firing at a 13-year-old boy when one of the bullets struck Kyhara in the stomach. Mortally wounded, she ran into the nail salon for help before collapsing. She was rushed to a nearby hospital but ultimately succumbed to her injuries.
The senseless act sparked outrage and a swift police investigation. Authorities identified the two individuals on the scooter as 15-year-old Matthew Godwin and 18-year-old Omar Bojang. It was determined that Godwin was the shooter and Bojang was driving the scooter. A few days after the shooting, on May 20, Matthew Godwin was apprehended by police at a hotel where he was staying with his mother. Shortly after, on May 23, Omar Bojang turned himself in to the authorities. Both were subsequently charged with murder, manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon.
In June 2022, a grand jury indicted both Godwin and Bojang for the murder of Kyhara Tay and the attempted murder of the 13-year-old boy they were targeting. The legal process culminated in early 2025 when both accepted plea deals. On March 6, 2025, Matthew Godwin pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree, and Omar Bojang pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree. On April 23, 2025, Godwin, then 18, was sentenced to 10 years to life in prison. Bojang, then 21, was expected to receive a sentence of 15 years in prison. During the sentencing, both expressed remorse for their actions. Kyhara's mother delivered a heart-wrenching impact statement, speaking of the immense pain and the future her daughter was denied.
