MARINERS HARBOR — A black Staten Island teen died after running from a group of people waving a gun and yelling racial slurs at him, the New York Daily News reported .
Dayshen McKenzie, 16, was with a group of friends that was chased by a mostly white crew of people yelling "I'm gonna shoot you, n----r" after an argument over a girl in Mariners Harbor on May 27, the News reported.
While fleeing, McKenzie collapsed and was taken to Richmond University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, a spokesman for the NYPD said. The News reported that he'd suffered an asthma attack.
However, speaking outside the 121st Precinct on Friday afternoon, NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said police do not believe McKenzie's death to be a hate crime and that nobody had reported the use of racial slurs during police's initial investigation.
He said McKenzie's death appears to have stemmed from a previous medical condition and the dispute was a planned gang fight.
"At this point it appears possibly gang-related between two groups," Boyce said. "We do not consider this incident to be a hate crime at this point."
Friends and witnesses told the News they told police about the use of racial slurs when they arrived on scene. Boyce said that only one witness reported the use of slurs to police and that those statements were made only during on a second interview Thursday.
"We offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Dayshen McKenzie during their time of grief," District Attorney Michael McMahon said in a statement.
"This office takes any allegations of a hate crime seriously. At this time, we have spoken with members of the NYPD who are investigating and we will continue to speak with them as this matter continues to be investigated."
On Friday morning, Rev. Al Sharpton posted on Facebook that he's going to call on the federal government to investigate McKenzie's death because the district attorney's office previously showed "questionable investigative skills."
"We will call on the federal government to investigate this incident as a possible hate crime because after the Staten Island District Attorney’s office (under the former prosecutor) showed questionable investigative skills in the Eric Garner case, we cannot in confidence rely on the DA’s office to pursue this matter to the degree the community feels will bring justice to the family of Dayshen McKenzie," Sharpton wrote.
On May 27, the two groups met behind the Checkers at 2270 Forest Ave. because of a long-standing argument between one of McKenzie's friends and a member of the other group over a girl, the News reported.
A member of the other group pulled out a gun and McKenzie and his friends started to flee, the News reported.
"They were calling us n----rs," Harry Smith, 19, one of McKenzie's friends, told the News.
"I just heard a lot of racial slurs. They were mixed — some white, some of them were Hispanic. But nobody was black."
McKenzie was a sophomore at Curtis High School and rapped under the name "Poppa Jawn." There are several videos of him rapping on YouTube, including one posted four days before his death.
The medical examiner is working to determine an exact cause of death.
