In the autumn of 2015, a burst of gunfire on a Bronx street tragically cut short the life of 20-year-old Kimberly Amber Velasquez. On the afternoon of Thursday, October 22, 2015, Velasquez was walking on Waring Avenue, near the Pelham Parkway Houses, when she was struck by a bullet to her torso. Emergency services rushed her to Jacobi Medical Center, but her injuries proved fatal, and she was pronounced dead.
The investigation into the young woman's death quickly revealed that she was an
innocent bystander, not the intended target of the shooter. Law enforcement sources indicated that the motive behind the shooting was a love triangle. The gunman had reportedly been aiming for a man who was walking with Velasquez at the time of the incident.
Within days of the fatal shooting, the New York Police Department made two arrests in connection with the case. On Saturday, October 24, 2015, police took 18-year-old Justin Mateo and 20-year-old Justin Campkin into custody. The identification and subsequent arrest of the suspects were aided by surveillance footage from cameras that had been installed in the Pelham Parkway Houses. Both Mateo and Campkin were charged with murder in the second degree, manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon. The online sources available do not provide information on the outcome of the trial or any convictions related to the charges against the two men.
