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2nd Shooter Gets 15 Years to Life For Murder of Teen on City Bus, DA Says

By  Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska and Katie Honan | July 19, 2017 5:37pm 

 D’aja Robinson was struck in the head by a stray bullet while riding a city bus in South Jamaica.
D’aja Robinson was struck in the head by a stray bullet while riding a city bus in South Jamaica.
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QUEENS — A Brooklyn teenager has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for the 2013 shooting death of a 14-year-old girl who was struck in the head by a bullet while aboard a city bus in South Jamaica, prosecutors said.

A judge sentenced Shamel Capers, 19, Wednesday after he was found guilty of murder and criminal possession of a weapon in June, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

D’aja Robinson, who attended Campus Magnet High School in Cambria Heights, had just left a Sweet 16 party on May 18, 2013, and boarded a Q6 bus on Sutphin Boulevard, near Baisley Pond Park, when Capers pointed a handgun toward the bus and began firing multiple rounds.

His accomplice, Kevin McClinton, 25, then grabbed the gun from him and continued shooting. One of the bullets pierced the bus window and struck D’aja in the head. 

Police said at the time that D'aja was the unintended victim of a gang dispute.

Last year, McClinton, of Queens, was convicted of murder and is currently serving 40 years to life in prison. 

In a statement, Brown called the teen's death "a tragic and senseless murder."

D'aja's mother, Shadia Sands, 40, said that Wednesday's sentencing provided closure for her and her family.

"I wouldn't call it justice because it's not going to bring my daughter back, it's more closure," she said. "We can move on now and we don't have to worry about running back and forth to court and seeing these people again."

D'aja's grandparents, Cheryl Sands and Willie Bolden, who were present during the Wednesday sentencing, got tattoos of the teen.  (DNAinfo/Katie Honan)

Last year, the street where D’aja was killed was named in her honor.

"Hopefully, it doesn't happen to anyone else," Sands said.