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Teen Killed at Bed-Stuy Dance Party
By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 19, 2009
Modified Jan 19, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 19, 2009
Modified Jan 19, 2009
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A 17-year-old teenage girl was fatally shot early yesterday morning when gunfire broke out at a party held at the Elks Plaza on Fulton St. in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Nyasia Pryear, who was shot in the neck, was an honor student at Nazareth Regional High School and her relatives say she was looking forward to attending college in the fall. Two other teens were injured in the melee.
According to police, over 500 teens attended the dance, which was billed as an alcohol-free event. Witnesses and relatives say that the violence erupted, according to the NY Times, as a "response to a man shouting gang epithets from the stage." Pryear's uncle said, "Bloods and Crips garbage. That’s when the guy who was standing behind my niece started shooting.” The News reports that apparently "Bloods gang members unleashed the violence because they were elbowed out of [the] event on a lucrative holiday weekend."
Pryear's father, Alberto Yard, cried, "They killed my baby! They killed my baby!" while her mother Jennifer Pryear begged for help in finding her killer, "She was a loving child. I just need y'all to just turn yourself in. Why you gotta do this to my baby? She didn't deserve it... She didn't mean to hurt nobody. She was out trying to have a good time, and they killed her like a dog."
Tagged
Bedford-Stuyvesant
bloods
brooklyn
crips
gang
gun violence
Nyasia Pryear
shooting
violence
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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