A 15-year-old boy accused of killing his friend by firing off a gun in his buddy’s direction as they hung out in a Queens apartment was ordered held in a juvenile facility Friday as he faces manslaughter charges, officials said.
Cops picked up the teen Thursday after he fled from victim Jamauri Mezar’s apartment near 90th Ave. and 161st St. in Jamaica following the Wednesday evening shooting.
The boy’s stepfather came home from his job as a security guard to find him dead, the victim’s mother, a registered nurse, said. EMS pronounced the teen dead inside the apartment.
“I save people everyday, but I couldn’t save my own son,” Tyshia Juin, 36, told the Daily News Wednesday night. “I don’t know why God would do this to me. He was a beautiful boy.”
The arrested teen’s name is not being disclosed because of his age.
He’s facing manslaughter and weapons possession charges for “recklessly discharging a loaded firearm in the direction of the victim, causing his demise,” police said.
The teen is charged with manslaughter rather than murder because there was no initial intention to harm Mezar, officials said.
Mezar was hanging out with several friends in his third-floor apartment at the Norman Towers at around 5 p.m. when the 15-year-old suspect began playing with the gun, cops said.
When the gun went off, the bullet hit Mezar in the head.
The group quickly dispersed from the apartment — with one of the friends staying to open the door for police, the family of the boy said.
The shooter left the gun as he ran out of the apartment. Responding officers recovered it at the scene.
Originally Published: June 27, 2025 at 3:10 PM EDT
