On a Sunday evening in the Bronx, 28-year-old Quaysean Haywood, an aspiring rapper, was shot at the intersection of Hawkstone Street and Walton Avenue. The incident occurred around 9:15 p.m. on April 16, 2017. Haywood was struck once in the right buttock and was initially taken to St. Barnabas Hospital in what was believed to be a stable condition.
Despite the initial assessment, the bullet had traveled into his abdominal cavity, leading to internal bleeding. Hours later, while undergoing surgery, Haywood experienced heart complications due to significant blood loss and died in the early morning of the following day. Friends and family gathered to hold a vigil for him on East Burnside Avenue.
In the days following the shooting, police recovered a. 38 caliber revolver near the scene. The investigation led to the arrest of 26-year-old Dunnell Platto, a homeless man with at least eight prior unsealed arrests for offenses including theft of service and weapons possession. Platto was apprehended at an unrelated court appearance in Yonkers. He was subsequently charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with Haywood's death.
