Winston McKay, a 40-year-old male, was tragically killed on June 10, 2019, in a senseless act of violence in Manhattan. On that day, McKay was walking his dog in Harlem, near the intersection of Amsterdam Avenue and West 146th Street, an area that had been experiencing a rise in violence. He was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire of a dispute that had nothing to do with him.
McKay had just celebrated his 18th anniversary with his husband, Terry Solomon, the day before the fatal shooting. The couple had been together for 18 years and were legally married for two. McKay, who was a librarian at a local college, was described as a kind and gentle man.
The incident that led to McKay's untimely death began with a confrontation between two other men. One of the men, wielding a rifle, fired at the other but missed his intended target. The stray bullet struck Winston McKay in the leg, tragically ending his life. The gunman and his accomplice fled the scene, leaving McKay to be found by passersby. Emergency services rushed him to a nearby hospital, but the injury proved to be fatal. His husband was left to mourn the sudden and violent loss of his partner, a grief compounded by what he described as insensitive and discriminatory treatment from the New York Police Department and the District Attorney's office in the aftermath of the tragedy.
The investigation into Winston McKay's death led to the arrests of two suspects. Four months after the shooting, in October 2019, police apprehended 19-year-old Ozjheir McClain and charged him with murder. The second suspect, 22-year-old Erick Bautista, was arrested in February 2021. According to police, the shooting stemmed from a dispute between the suspects and another individual. Surveillance footage from the area played a crucial role in identifying the alleged perpetrators. The senseless nature of the crime, where an innocent man lost his life while simply walking his dog, drew attention to the ongoing issue of gun violence in the city.
