In the Morrisania section of the Bronx, a tragic and abrupt act of violence cut short the life of 16-year-old James Solano on the afternoon of Wednesday, December 23, 2020. Young James, a high school junior with a future full of aspirations, was fatally shot in the neck just two days before Christmas. The shocking incident unfolded around noon outside the King Deli and Grocery on Boston Road, a place familiar to the neighborhood.
Surveillance footage from the scene captured the chilling
moments leading up to the shooting. In the video, a man is seen approaching James and tapping him on the shoulder. As James walked past him, the assailant pulled a gun from his jacket and fired a single shot, striking the teenager. Mortally wounded, James stumbled into the deli where he collapsed. Emergency services were called, and paramedics rushed him to Lincoln Hospital, but his life could not be saved, and he was pronounced dead. The gunman, described as wearing a black jacket, a light-colored hooded sweatshirt, and a white surgical mask, fled the scene, heading eastbound on East 166th Street.
The brazen daylight murder sparked outrage and calls for justice from the community. Five days after the shooting, on December 28, 2020, the New York Police Department arrested a suspect in connection with the killing. Marquis Beckford, a 22-year-old resident of the Bronx, was taken into custody. At the time of his arrest, he was reportedly still in possession of the firearm used in the shooting. Beckford was subsequently charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon.
