A man convicted of killing a 15-year-old boy and injuring a 13-year-old in a Flatlands schoolyard nearly four years ago was sentenced to 40 years in prison this week.
Vincent Adeyeye shot the teenagers outside PS 119 on Avenue K near E. 39th Street at 7 pm in July of 2011 in what authorities say was a gang-related incident. Adeyeye — who was a member of the Bloods gang at the time of the shooting — was convicted of second-degree murder, first-degree assault, and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon last month.
Adeyeye fired numerous shots into the schoolyard — allegedly in retaliation for a shooting that happened the night before — and struck the two innocent bystanders. The 13-year-old boy, who survived gunshot wounds to his foot and buttock, had just purchased an ice cream cone. Fifteen-year-old Dequan Mercurius, who died from a gunshot wound to his torso, was playing basketball when he was shot.
The district attorney said he is surprised Adeyeye didn’t kill more people with his random gunfire, and he said the defendant deserves the lengthy sentence for taking Mercurius’s young life.
“This defendant opened fire on a crowded schoolyard, killing an innocent teen whose life was just beginning. It is a miracle that more people weren’t killed,” said District Attorney Ken Thompson.
