NYPD investigates the case.
Photo: Andrés Correa Guatarasma / Courtesy
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The NYPD is looking for the father of the second baby of Azsia Johnson, the young mother fatally shot last night on a street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan (NYC), near the shelter where she lived.
The young mother of two was shot in the head while pushing her 3-month-old baby’s stroller on her way to meet the boy’s father, police sources said, citing a text message the 20-year-old Johnson had sent to their families.
She had apparently been assaulted by the unidentified man while pregnant and wasn’t sure how much she wanted him to be involved in the baby’s life, family members told investigators. The young woman already had another child with a previous partner.
“It appears that she was the target, it was not a stray bullet,” a police source said of the point-blank homicide. “Close contact head injury. She had powder burns on her head, to show how close she was.”
The baby’s father has not been named a suspect in the murder, as police try to locate him. Authorities said Johnson was staying at a shelter near the shooting and had lived in both Staten Island and Brooklyn in the years leading up to it.
“Although the shooting occurred on a street and drew more attention to the gun violence of fire that has plagued the city, the murder also shone a dazzling spotlight on the domestic violence”, commented Daily News.
The young mother was pushing her baby’s stroller in 95th St. y Lexington Ave., just steps from Samuel Seabury Playground, when a man dressed in black burst in and shot him at close range in the back of the head around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Paramedics rushed her to Metropolitan Hospital but were unable to save her. The baby was unharmed and was taken to an area hospital for evaluation.
Mayor Eric Adams promised that the killer would be caught. “We strongly believe that this was not a random shooting, that the victim was attacked and that the Police Department is still conducting an ongoing investigation,” he told reporters. “And we are going to catch this person who is responsible.”
No arrests have been made. Anyone with information should call. at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) and in Spanish 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Also through crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or by text message to 274637 (CRIMES), followed by TIP577. All communications are strictly confidential.
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