The Queens man accused of shooting 10-year-old Justin Wallace to death in the Rockaways over the weekend was ordered held without bail at his arraignment on murder charges Wednesday.
Jovan Young, 29, of Beach Channel Drive in Edgemere faces murder, attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon charges in connection with the June 5 homicide.
Sources familiar with the case said Young turned himself in to police on Tuesday and requested a lawyer. He was further positively identified by witnesses as the suspect responsible for the killing.
After being booked at the 101st Precinct stationhouse on June 8, he appeared in Queens Criminal Court on the afternoon of June 9 for arraignment before Judge Toko Serita, who ordered him held in custody without bail and to return to court on June 14.
Young faces up to 25 years to life behind bars if convicted, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
“There isn’t a parent alive who doesn’t mourn this family’s loss, another tragic result from gun violence,” Katz said in a June 9 statement. “The defendant allegedly fired repeatedly into an occupied house, is now in custody and faces justice in our courts.”
According to law enforcement sources, Young allegedly shot Wallace and his 29-year-old uncle in an ambush attack that occurred at about 9:33 p.m. on June 5 at a home on Beach 45th Street off Beach Channel Drive in Edgemere.
Video footage that the NYPD released on Sunday afternoon shows the gunman pulling up in a sedan, then walking up to the stoop and firing eight shots before running away.
Published reports indicated that the shooting may have stemmed from a parking dispute between the suspect and Wallace’s nephew.
Officers from the 101st Precinct, in responding to a 911 call, found Wallace unconscious and unresponsive with a gunshot wound to his torso. His uncle had sustained a gunshot wound to his shoulder.
EMS units rushed Wallace to St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Paramedics took the victim’s uncle to Jamaica Hospital where he’s listed in stable condition.
The double shooting spurred further outcry across the city over the increase in gun violence in recent months. Mayor Bill de Blasio, in meeting with Wallace’s parents on Sunday night, vowed that the youngster’s killer would be brought to justice. He further announced on Tuesday a partnership between the NYPD and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to crack down on illegal firearms in New York City.
Young’s arrest came hours after Edgemere residents remembered Wallace at a vigil set up outside the home where he was slain. Wallace died just days before his 11th birthday.
