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Read the press release here.

Tayshana Murphy Murder Suspect Denies Killing Basketball Star

By Tom Liddy | October 8, 2011 4:01pm

MANHATTAN — One of the men accused of killing Harlem basketball star Tayshana Murphy reportedly denied the murder in a jailhouse interview.

Tyshawn Brockington, 21, told the Daily News that he didn't know the top hoops prospect and Murry Bergtraum HS student, who was killed in her apartment building on Sept. 11.

"I only saw Chicken twice in my whole life," he told the paper from Rikers Island, referring to Murphy's nickname. "I didn't even know who she was. I didn't know anything about her being a star basketball player, nothing.

"All I know is we didn't do this."

Brockington and Robert Cartagena, also 21, were charged with murder for the shooting at the Grant Houses during which the victim begged for her life.

Cops believe the shooting may have stemmed from a dispute between the Grant Houses, on 125th Street and Broadway and the nearby Manhattanville Houses.

Brockington, who was caught with Cartagena in South Carolina, admitted to the News that he wanted to "squash a beef between Manhattanville and Grant houses."

But "we weren't going to kill anyone," he added.