A Brooklyn man has been found guilty of first-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting a 16-year-old girl with a submachine gun last summer, the acting Brooklyn DA said Friday.
Shemel Mercurius was babysitting her three-year-old cousin in a Brooklyn Avenue apartment in East Flatbush on the evening of May 31, 2016 when Taariq Stephens, 26, pushed his way in and shot her in the arms and the chest, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a news release.
Stephens was convicted of first-degree manslaughter and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon by a jury in Brooklyn Supreme Court Friday.
“This defendant’s sinister act cut short the life of a promising young girl and undoubtedly traumatized her toddler cousin,” Gonzalez said in the release. “His deadly actions destroyed lives, left her family heartbroken and deeply hurt our community. He has now been convicted and will pay for his evil actions.”
The East Flatbush resident faces up to 25 years in prison when he stands for sentencing on Jan. 16.
Mercurius whispered his name to NYPD officers when they found her semi-conscious in the sixth-floor apartment where she was attack, police sources said last year.
She died 90 minutes after the shooting at Kings County Hospital Center, the DA said. Her cousin was not physically injured.
Surveillance footage showed Stephens loading his submachine rifle outside Mercurius’ door and then forcing his way into the apartment. He turned himself into police at the local precinct two days later, according to the Brooklyn DA’s office.
