On a summer evening in Staten Island, the life of 19-year-old Tairiq Matthews was tragically cut short. On June 30, 2017, at approximately 6:30 p.m., Matthews was standing in front of a deli at the corner of Vanderbilt Avenue and Hamilton Street in the Stapleton neighborhood. It was then that a gunman, who had moments before been inside an adjacent nail salon with several other men, stepped out and opened fire.
A single gunshot to the head ended the young man's life.
The assailant, whose motives remain unclear, fled the scene immediately after the shooting. Tairiq Matthews, a resident of West Brighton, was pronounced dead, leaving a community to grapple with the sudden and violent loss of a young life.
In the years that have followed, the investigation into the death of Tairiq Matthews has not resulted in any publicly announced arrests or the identification of any suspects. The case remains a painful and unresolved chapter for his family and the Staten Island community, a stark reminder of a life taken too soon and a quest for justice that continues.
