In the quiet morning of September 27, 2016, the Cypress Hills Houses in Brooklyn became the scene of a tragedy that would leave the community shaken. Tyrone Stewart, a 31-year-old male resident of the complex, was found in the lobby of 1200 Sutter Ave., a building just north of his own, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The call came in around 9:30 a.m., and though he was rushed to Brookdale Hospital in nearby Brownsville, his life could not be saved. The brazen daylight shooting left residents feeling unsettled and angry, sparking calls for a greater police presence and better living conditions to curb the violence that had claimed one of their own.
The investigation into Stewart's death moved quickly, and on October 13, 2016, homicide detectives announced an arrest that sent another shockwave through the East New York neighborhood. The individual taken into custody was not a hardened criminal in the traditional sense, but a 15-year-old boy named Jyheim Dickerson who lived in a row house directly across from the Cypress Hills Houses complex. The revelation that the alleged perpetrator was a teenager, less than half the age of his victim, was a deeply disturbing development for the community.
Despite his youth, the gravity of the crime meant that Jyheim Dickerson would face the consequences as an adult. He was charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. According to a complaint from the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, Dickerson admitted to detectives that he was the one who had repeatedly shot Tyrone Stewart. This confession, coupled with witness confirmations, painted a grim picture of the events that transpired that September morning, leaving a family to mourn the loss of a loved one and a community to grapple with the reality of youth violence in their midst.
