In the evening hours of a Tuesday in the Bronx, chaos erupted in front of the Monroe Houses on Taylor Avenue. It was August 31, 2021, when gunfire shattered the neighborhood's peace, leaving two brothers critically wounded. Price Tunstall, a 24-year-old male, and his 22-year-old brother, Malik Tunstall, were both discovered with gunshot wounds to the head. Emergency services rushed the two men to NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi, but for Price, it was too late.
He was pronounced deceased at the hospital, while his younger brother clung to life in critical condition.
The investigation into the brazen daylight shooting in the courtyard of the James Monroe Houses quickly focused on Kai Johnson, a member of a local gang known as the 'Stevenson Commons Crew'. Authorities alleged that the murders of the Tunstall brothers were part of a violent pattern of gang activity that included a prior shooting in April 2021 where Johnson shot and injured a 16-year-old in the same vicinity. Johnson's actions were described by the U.S. Attorney as a callous act of violence intended to further the interests of his racketeering enterprise.
In April 2022, Kai Johnson was indicted on a range of federal charges, including racketeering conspiracy and two counts of murder in aid of racketeering for the deaths of Price and Malik Tunstall. Faced with the possibility of the death penalty, Johnson eventually pleaded guilty in January 2023 to racketeering conspiracy and attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon in aid of racketeering. On September 13, 2023, a U.S. District Judge sentenced the 28-year-old Bronx native to 40 years in prison for his role in the double murder and the earlier shooting. The sentencing brought a measure of closure to the family of Price Tunstall, with his mother and aunt delivering powerful statements in court about their loss. In addition to his lengthy prison term, Johnson was also sentenced to five years of supervised release.
