Cops arrest gunman who killed 15-year-old boy in Queens playground

Police have arrested the 18-year-old gunman who shot and killed 15-year-old Jaden Pierre as he was pistol-whipping the teen during a caught-on-camera beatdown at a Queens park, officials said Saturday.

Zahir Davis, a member of the BG4 gang, was taken into custody for the April 16 shooting at the Nautilus Playground inside Ray Wilkins Park, Police Commissioner Tisch said.

“NYPD detectives assigned to the U.S. Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force have arrested Zahir Davis for the senseless murder of 15-year-old Jaden Pierre in a park in Queens last week,” the commissioner said on X. “Davis fled to Jamaica following the shooting and was arrested immediately when he landed back in NYC last night.”

Davis is charged with murder. His arraignment in Queens Criminal Court was pending Saturday.

Pierre was participating in a water baloon fight he helped organize over social media when an unidentified associate of Davis recognized the 15-year-old boy from a previous brawl.

Davis and the other man cornered Pierre against a fence, where they were filmed beating the teen as dozens of bystanders stood by recording the attack, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters earlier this week.

The assault ended when Davis drew a firearm and pistol-whipped the teen. His weapon fired, and Pierre collapsed with a gunshot wound to the chest. Forensic investigators will determine whether the shooting was accidental, police said.

“When you watch the video, he strikes him in the head with a gun, and as he comes down, the shot rings out,” Kenny said.

Kenny said the ongoing beef stemmed from a prior assault in which the man who incited Thursday’s beatdown jumped Pierre in January. Friends of Pierre responded by beating the assailant in retaliation, the chief said.

The BG4 crew, short for Blitz Gang 4, operates in southeast Queens and is an offshoot of the Money World gang, which has historically feuded with the Snow Gang, Kenny said.

Jaden attended ninth grade at Eagle Academy and was looking forward to starting a new job through the city’s Summer Youth Employment Program, relatives said.

But on Thursday, the teen asked his father if he could go to the park to play basketball. In reality, he was going to participate in a planned water-balloon fight organized over social media, his mom said.

In footage posted to X by Mayor Eric Adams on Friday, dozens of bystanders can be seen filming as Jaden is savagely beaten and then shot.

In the video at least three rival teens can be seen repeatedly punching and kicking Pierre as he holds his hands over his head, trying to ward off the blows. At one point, one of his attackers grab’s Pierre’s hoodie and throws him to the ground. Pierre quickly regains his feet but the teens continue to pummel him until gunfire rings out.

The youth suddenly drops to the ground as the crowd scatters, the video shows.

“Everyone there recording did nothing,” the victim’s older sister, 17-year-old Nellie Pierre, told the Daily News. “They treated it all as entertainment. He was already beat up. He was helpless and they shot him.”