STATEN ISLAND — Rev. Al Sharpton has asked the federal government to investigate the death of a Staten Island teen who collapsed while being chased by a group of mostly white people that a witness said was yelling racial slurs.
Sharpton held a rally Saturday with the family of Dayshen McKenzie, 16, who died on May 27 from a reported asthma attack.
He called on federal investigators to look into the teen's death because he doesn't trust the skills of the Staten Island District Attorney's office after the Eric Garner case, Pix 11 TV reported.
The New York Daily News reported Friday that McKenzie died while fleeing a mostly white crew, with one waving a gun and yelling "I'm gonna shoot you n---r."
But the NYPD has said the incident happened during a pre-planned gang fight — and added that only one person reported the use of a racial slur, and later recanted it.
Sharpton said he was not convinced.
"Pre-arranged or not, nobody has the right to chase a child and cause his death," he told Pix 11.
"There’s two challenges in this case: one was a crime committed? Are you saying they had the right to chase him? And two, whether you’re saying people using racial language while they chase somebody against their will is no longer considered hate."
Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said that McKenzie was involved in a fight between two gangs behind the Checkers at 2270 Forest Ave. Boyce added that nobody reported any racial slurs being yelled during the NYPD's initial investigation.
"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."
Boyce said they could not confirm if there was a gun present during the incident, but he said no shots were fired.
McKenzie's mother, Tisha Richardson, denied the NYPD's account of events.
"He was not in a gang," Richardson said at a Harlem rally, according to Pix 11.
"He was about his music, he was about his basketball and he was about his brotherhood to his friends."
Sharpton likened the case to the 1986 death of Michael Griffith — who was fatally hit by a car while being chased out of Howard Beach by a group of white people — a comparison that Boyce called "inadequate and irresponsible" Friday.
Sharpton said he didn't have confidence in the District Attorney's office's investigation skills after former Staten Island DA Dan Donovan failed to get an indictment in the case against NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo, who was accused of putting Eric Garner in a fatal chokehold during an arrest.
The borough's new chief prosecutor, Michael McMahon, released a statement after McKenzie's death saying he would work with the NYPD in investigating the case.
"We offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Dayshen McKenzie during their time of grief," McMahon said in the 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."
