In a tragic and senseless act of violence, 29-year-old Shadina Smith Hall, a Black female, was killed on a Saturday afternoon in January 2021 in her Harlem neighborhood. The young mother had just left her apartment on West 150th Street when she was allegedly groped by a man on the street. Distressed by the encounter, she returned to her apartment and informed her 26-year-old fiancé of what had just transpired.
The couple then went to confront the man, which led to a heated argument. The confrontation escalated horrifically when the man pulled out a gun and opened fire on them in the first-floor hallway of their building. Shadina was struck multiple times in the chest and was found by responding officers unconscious and unresponsive. Her fiancé was also shot, sustaining wounds to his torso and left arm, but he was conscious and alert when police arrived. Both were rushed to a nearby hospital, where Shadina Smith Hall was pronounced dead. Her fiancé survived the attack.
For ten months, the gunman remained at large, with detectives believing he may have fled to West Africa. In October 2021, a suspect was apprehended. Moussa Cisse, who was 19 at the time of his arrest, was taken into custody. He was subsequently charged with murder, attempted murder, and several weapons charges in connection with the death of Shadina Smith Hall and the wounding of her fiancé.
While awaiting trial for the murder, Cisse was involved in multiple violent incidents at Rikers Island, including assaults on correction officers and fellow inmates. He was later sentenced to ten years in prison for those offenses, a sentence that was to run concurrently with any sentence he would receive for the 'Manhattan case,' a clear reference to the charges in Shadina's death. However, specific details regarding the final verdict and any subsequent sentencing for the murder of Shadina Smith Hall are not available in the online sources.
