BROOKLYN — The man who fatally shot a 16-year-old girl with a sub machine gun in front of the young cousin she was babysitting turned himself in to police Thursday, NYPD officials said.
Taariq Stephens, 24, walked into the 67th Precinct stationhouse with an attorney two days after the fatal shooting and was arrested on charges of murder and criminal possession of a weapon, an NYPD spokesman said.
Investigators have yet to recover the weapon of Stephens, who's from East Flatbush and has been arrested six times, police said.
Stephens walked to the sixth-floor apartment of Shemel Mercurius at 1406 Brooklyn Ave. and started firing his 40-caliber Kel-Tec automatic in full view of her 3-year-old cousin who she was babysitting, NYPD Chief of Detectives Bob Boyce said during a press conference.
“We think he’s a dangerous guy, especially with that weapon,” Boyce said before Stephens' arrest. “We are concerned about this.”
Stephens was charged with second-degree murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon at his arraignment in Brooklyn Friday afternoon, according to court documents.
(DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg)
Shemel, who'd been texting with the gunman for about two weeks, was hit several times, with one bullet going through her arm and into her body, according to police.
Shemel told police that Stephens had shot her shortly before she was pronounced dead at the hospital, officials said.
Investigators also said detectives have video of Stephens firing at Shemel's sixth-floor door before fleeing. Officers recovered three rounds in the hallway.
Police searched Shemel's cellphone and found that the pair knew each other, but said they weren't dating. Shemel was a junior at Edward R. Murrow High School and Stephens lives nearby, police said.
“From what we can read on the texting, it is not a romantic relationship at all,” Boyce said. “So there’s a lot more to go in this case.”
Stephens was arrested Oct. 29, 2007, for criminal possession of a weapon, police said. He was about 15 years old at the time.
He was arrested March 5 for resisting arrest, police said.
Stephens has been arrested four other times, but those records are sealed, an NYPD spokesman said.
