The 23-year-old man allegedly responsible for killing a Harlem grandmother with a stray bullet during a shootout last week turned himself in on Monday.
Ricky Shelby, 23, of Story Avenue in the Bronx surrendered at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office on April 28 with a lawyer by his side, nearly a week after the fatal shooting of Excencia Mette, a 61-year-old resident and beloved local business owner.
Shelby faces charges of murder, attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon for allegedly firing the stray bullet during the April 22 shootout that wound up fatally striking Mette in the head. After surrendering at the Manhattan DA’s office, he was brought uptown to the 28th Precinct stationhouse for processing.
Then, on Monday afternoon, detectives escorted Shelby out of the 28th Precinct in handcuffs, facing reporters for his perp walk. A number of his family members and friends were there to provide words of support, while others in the crowd jeered the alleged killer.
Shelby remained quiet and stoic as he was loaded into the back of a waiting police vehicle bound for New York Criminal Court.
According to police sources, Shelby got into a gun fight with Darious Smith, also 23, along Lenox Avenue and West 113th Street; the battle left shell casings strewn across the Harlem intersection.
Amid the hail of bullets, Mette centered outside her Lenox Avenue residents, looking to make sure her grandson was safe — only to be hit in the head with a stray bullet. She collapsed on the sidewalk.
Mette was affectionately known in the Harlem community as Momma Zee and owned a eatery Momma Zee’s Food to Plez Deli located at 2061 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd.
EMS rushed Mette to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
“This is a horrific, horrific incident that took the life of a grandmother,” Mayor Eric Adams said the following day.
Sources familiar with the incident say Smith began the incident by firing at Shelby, but allegedly, it was Shelby’s bullet that struck Mette.
Smith, who suffered a gunshot wound to his left foot, was treated at a local hospital and subsequently arrested. He faced arraignment on April 24 while handcuffed to a wheelchair and wearing a Tyvek suit. Smith was charged with attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
