On a cold December evening in the Bronx, 18-year-old Gregory Pena was fatally shot in the chest in the Claremont section of the borough. The incident, which occurred around 8:40 p.m. on Sheridan Avenue near Marcy Place, cut short the life of the young man. Despite the grave injury, Pena managed to walk for two blocks before he collapsed at the corner of Walton Avenue and Elliot Place.
Emergency responders rushed him to Bronx-Lebanon Hospital, but he could not be saved.
The investigation into the shooting suggested a possible link to a dispute between different groups of young men that had taken place earlier that day. Authorities believed the fatal encounter may have been an escalation of this prior altercation. In the days following the shooting, the community mourned the loss of the teenager, with a memorial of around 150 candles and photographs of Pena appearing near the location where he collapsed.
A break in the case came on January 3, 2018, when the New York Police Department arrested 19-year-old Agustin Guzman in connection with the killing. Guzman, a resident of the nearby Mt. Hope neighborhood, was charged with murder, manslaughter, and two counts of weapons possession. Investigators stated that they believed the shooting was crew-related, pointing to a possible gang rivalry as the underlying motive for the violent act.
