On a late summer evening in Brooklyn, the life of 37-year-old Akaijah Evelyn was tragically cut short. On September 1, 2016, Evelyn was standing with two other men outside on St. Marks Avenue in the Crown Heights neighborhood when a dark sedan reportedly pulled up. Gunfire erupted from the vehicle in what authorities suspected was a drive-by shooting possibly motivated by a drug dispute. Evelyn was struck in the chest and rushed to Kings County Hospital, but he did not survive his injuries.
The two other men with him were also wounded in the attack but were in stable condition.
The investigation into the shooting led to the arrests of two men. In January 2017, police apprehended Donnell Moore, then 35 years old, from Bedford-Stuyvesant. He was accused of being the getaway driver and was charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon. Several months later, in June 2017, a second suspect, 28-year-old Raye Reynolds of Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, was also taken into custody. Reynolds was set to face charges of murder and criminal possession of a weapon as well, for his alleged role in the fatal shooting.
