I was joined by Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell this week to announce the indictment of 23 alleged members of warring subsets of the Crips street gang.
The defendants were variously charged with conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder and other crimes in connection with a number of violent incidents, including shootouts in broad daylight on busy streets.
The reckless criminality we saw over the course of a two-year investigation is the kind of lawlessness that has killed law-abiding New Yorkers caught in the crossfire of gang gun violence.
We saw that in the heartbreaking loss of Guedelia Vallinas.
She was crossing the street in Woodside to go buy milk for her two young children when she was gunned down by a gang member shooting at a rival.
Her killing led to the launch of this investigation into the violence between rival subsets of the Crips.
As we will demonstrate in court with video evidence, no one on either side thought twice about shooting at a rival on a busy street.
It did not matter that it was the middle of the day or that small children were present, they fired their guns, bystanders be damned.
Their absolute disregard for the lives of their neighbors and fellow New Yorkers strengthens our resolve to fight this plague of gun violence with everything we have. On the streets and in the courts, we simply will not relent.
My top priority will always be keeping you and your loved ones safe.
In Friendship,
Melinda Katz
Queens District Attorney