The NYPD Tuesday named the 18-year-old 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
Zahir Davis, a member of the BG4 gang, is being sought in the shooting at the Nautilus Playground inside Ray Wilkins Park on Thursday, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a media briefing. Police sources said the shooter has connections to Jamaica and may have fled to the Caribbean country after the shooting.
Pierre was attending a water-gun fight he helped organize over social media when an unidentified associate of Davis recognized Pierre 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.
The assault ended when Davis drew a firearm and pistol-whipped the teen, causing his weapon to fire and Pierre to collapse 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.
Courtesy of Shanelle Weston
Jaden Pierre, 15, was fatally shot inside the Nautilus Playground at Roy Wilkins Park near Baisley and Merrick Blvds. in South Jamaica, Queens, on Thursday, April 16, 2026. (Courtesy of Shanelle Weston)
At a vigil for 15-year-old Jaden Pierre on Monday evening, New York Attorney General Letitia James said detectives had identified the shooter and urged the suspect to surrender himself.
“I want everyone to know that the police know who shot Jaden,” James said as she stood with Jaden’s family and hundreds of mourners just steps from where the boy was shot in the chest inside the Nautilus Playground at Roy Wilkins Park.
“I would urge this gentleman to turn himself in, to surrender as soon as possible, before the NYPD gets to you,” she said. “They know who you are. They know where you are, and I would urge you to surrender.”
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.”
