On the evening of October 28, 2020, Sherard Jamie McKoy, an 18-year-old Black male, was inside the Rayen Lite Deli in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn. A college student with a reputation for being community-minded and ambitious, McKoy was not involved in any gang activity. He was at the deli with a friend who was allegedly a member of a gang.
It was this association that tragically led to McKoy being mistakenly identified as a rival gang member.
Two individuals, 17-year-old Iquan Warlick and 17-year-old Nakhai Addison, entered the deli around 6:10 p.m. An altercation broke out, and McKoy attempted to flee the establishment. Warlick, a member of a local gang alliance, pursued McKoy out of the deli and opened fire, striking him in the chest. Addison then allegedly took the gun from Warlick and fired more shots back inside the deli. McKoy was rushed to Brookdale University Hospital, but he did not survive his injuries.
In a broader effort to crack down on gang violence in Brooklyn, law enforcement officials arrested Warlick and Addison. They were both charged with the murder of Sherard Jamie McKoy. The investigation revealed that their actions were part of a larger wave of violence perpetrated by a gang alliance known as YPF, which was responsible for numerous shootings in the area. The arrests were part of a larger indictment that included 17 members of the YPF gang on a total of 118 counts, including conspiracy to commit murder.
