July 24, 2023 By Michael Dorgan
A 17-year-old male has been arrested and charged with fatally shooting a man at the Astoria Houses NYCHA complex in March.
The teen, whose name has not been released since he is a juvenile, was nabbed by police in the 114th Precinct late Friday, July 21, and charged with murder and reckless endangerment for the shooting death of Staten Island man Troy Evans, 36.
The teen is alleged to have gunned Evans down as he was walking with groceries into the lobby area of 2-06 Astoria Blvd., a building within the complex, on March 27 at around 5:30 p.m., according to police
The 17-year-old allegedly blasted Evans once in the stomach and then fled the scene, police said.
Evans was transported by EMS to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A motive for the shooting is unclear, although police said it followed a dispute.
Police did not say where the teen is from, given his age. The NYPD in March described the suspect as a Black male who was wearing a black jacket over a green hoodie, black sweatpants and white sneakers.
The teen has one prior arrest for reckless endangerment, according to the New York Daily News.
Meanwhile, Evans has a number of prior arrests, including one for criminal possession of a weapon in 2018, police said.
An eyewitness in March described to the New York Daily News how the shooting unfolded.
“It was one shot. Blam!” said the witness, a 33-year-old Parks Department worker who did not want to be identified. “It was like thunder. He was lying there bleeding, and they were trying to resuscitate him. They brought him back briefly, they put him on the stretcher, but he was unconscious.”
The eye witness said that pandemonium broke out after the murder.
“It was crazy … all types of people running and screaming,” he told the publication.