In the East Harlem neighborhood of New York, a sense of dread hung in the air for 17-year-old Lewis Encarnacion. On the morning of September 13, 2017, the young man, a student at Heritage High School, confided in his mother, Belkis Perdomo, about a chilling premonition. He told her that some kids from the nearby Johnson Houses wanted to kill him. Despite his fear, he never made it to the local police precinct to report the threat.
That night, his mother's worst fears became a grim reality.
Shortly after 10 p.m., police responded to a call at 1502 Park Avenue, between Tito Puente Way and East 111th Street. There, they found Lewis Encarnacion with a gunshot wound to his chest. He was rushed to St. Luke's Hospital, but his life could not be saved. A resident of an apartment on East 108th Street near Fifth Avenue, the young man's life was cut short in a place he called home.
In the days that followed, friends and classmates gathered to mourn the loss of a boy they described as a 'funny, goofy kid.' They lit candles and spelled out his nickname, 'LA,' in a makeshift memorial. While grappling with their grief, many questioned the senseless violence that took their friend. The New York Police Department opened a homicide investigation into the shooting. At the time, authorities had not identified any suspects and no arrests had been made. An anti-gun violence advocate challenged the community to come forward with any information, emphasizing that protecting the shooter was equivalent to helping them get away with murder. The police offered a $2,500 reward for any information that could lead to an arrest in the death of Lewis Encarnacion.
