On a summer night in the Bronx, 16-year-old Ramon Gil-Medrano was riding in a cab, on his way to a recording studio. It was shortly before 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 11, 2021, when two individuals on scooters pulled up alongside the vehicle at the corner of East 178th Street and Webster Avenue in the Mount Hope section of the borough. They opened fire into the backseat, striking the teenager in the head and chest. The suspects then fled the scene, riding away northbound.
Ramon Gil-Medrano was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The young man's mother, who had moved her family from Puerto Rico to the Bronx 13 years prior in search of a better life, was left devastated by the sudden violence that claimed her son. The investigation into the shooting quickly pointed towards a gang-related motive. Sources indicated that Gil-Medrano was allegedly a member of the 800 YGz crew, affiliated with the Bloods, and his murder may have been in retaliation for the killing of a 13-year-old member of the rival Crips gang earlier that same day.
Within a week of the shooting, the New York Police Department announced the arrests of two suspects on July 17, 2021. Nineteen-year-old Mekhi Williams and an unnamed 15-year-old were taken into custody. Williams was charged with a slate of offenses including second-degree murder, first-degree gang assault, and conspiracy. The 15-year-old was charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
Further developments in the case came to light in October 2021, when the Bronx District Attorney's Office announced indictments against 13 individuals connected to a string of violent crimes, including the murders of two boys. In that announcement, it was stated that 16-year-olds Alec McFarlane and Tyquan Howard were charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of Ramon Gil-Medrano. The indictments detailed a violent summer feud between rival neighborhood crews, the 800 YGs and Thirdside.
