In the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2020, the life of 29-year-old Rakeem Jennings was tragically cut short in what would become the city's first homicide of the year. Jennings, an aspiring rapper who also worked in construction, was discovered inside an apartment at the Bronx River Houses on East 174th Street. Police responded to a 911 call around 10:29 a.m. and found him unconscious and unresponsive with gunshot wounds to his head and neck.
Emergency medical services pronounced him dead at the scene.
For most of his life, Jennings had lived in the same apartment with his mother, who had passed away suddenly just two months prior in November. Tragically, his brother had also died in the same apartment years earlier. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, investigators took Jennings' girlfriend into custody for questioning.
The investigation into Rakeem Jennings' death progressed, and on January 14, 2020, police made an arrest. Ryan Chambers, a 34-year-old man from Queens, was taken into custody at his home in Long Island City. He was subsequently charged with murder. At the time of his arrest, the motive for the shooting and the nature of the relationship between Chambers and Jennings, if any, were not immediately clear.
