MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — The jury in the trial of five alleged gang members charged with terrorizing a residential Harlem neighborhood by dealing crack and fighting for territory was shown photos Monday of cash piles allegedly taken on Afrika Owes' cell phone.
Owes, 17, served three months in jail this summer for gun possession after she struck a deal in which she promised to stay out of trouble and to remain in school in exchange for youthful offender status.
The one-time Deerfield Academy prep school student, who was accused of toting a 9mm handgun in her purse for the crew, was indicted as part of the Manhattan District Attorney's sweep of 14 alleged gang members, including her then-boyfriend Jaquan Layne, 21.
In the photos, entered into evidence at the trial of Layne (a.k.a "Jay Money") and the four other accused gang members, Owes is apparently seen holding cash and planting a kiss on Layne's cheek.
A forensics expert testified Monday that she downloaded the photos off a memory card on Owes' cell phone. They were taken between September 2009 and November 2010, explained Jessica Ho, a computer forensic analyst for the Manhattan DA's office.
"She is widely known among the individuals in the indictment and in her peer group as one of the females who carries the guns for the males, so when the males get stopped by the NYPD the gun is not found on [them]," Assistant District Attorney Christopher Ryan said at Owes' arraignment earlier this year.
Owes was 15 years old when she got involved with the crew that allegedly claimed territory on West 137th Street between Lenox and Seventh Avenues.
When reached by phone on Monday, Owes' attorney Elsie Chandler did not comment on the photos but said only that Owes "has taken responsibility for the things she has done and is attempting to move on with her life in a productive way."
Layne, his brother Jahlyl Layne, 18, Habiyb Mohammed, 31, Jonathan Hernandez, 19, and Jeffrey Brown, 19, all face between 25 years to life in prison for their alleged activities.
Their trial began in Manhattan Supreme Court on Sept. 20.
