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Brain Dead 14-Yr-Old's Stepfather Thinks Stop-And-Frisk Could Have Saved Him
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jun 29, 2012
Modified Jun 29, 2012
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jun 29, 2012
Modified Jun 29, 2012
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A Brooklyn teen was declared brain dead after being shot Wednesday night, one day after he graduated middle school. The stepfather of 14-year-old Akeal Christopher thinks that the shooting could have been prevented if the suspects had been stopped-and-frisked before the melee: “I believe that if someone looks suspicious out in the streets, you’ve got to stop him and frisk him,” the stepdad, who declined to give his name, told the frisk-friendly Post from the hospital. “I’m from the streets, you know? I know how it is out there. Stop-and-frisk could have helped prevent what happened to my stepson.”
Akeal was walking home from a party with his cousin and six other friends in Bushwick just before 11 p.m. They were approached by two other teens on the corner of Jefferson Street and Evergreen Avenue. According to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, one of the suspects asked, “'Are you a part of the Lute Crew?' We’re not certain what the answer was, but two shots ring out and he is struck in the face.”
According to ABC, investigators are looking into whether the shooting was the culmination of an earlier dispute with another person over a girl. Eyewitness Lupe Estrella, 48, said she heard four shots then ran over to help the boy: "By the time I got to him there was no movement at all," she told DNAInfo. "There was blood behind his head and blood was really coming out of his right ear."
Akeal's stepfather's statements about stop-and-frisk echoes that of friends of 17-year-old Fritz Pascal, a Brooklyn high school football star who was shot in the back while trying to save his friend from being held up by robbers.
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Akeal Christopher
brain dead
brooklyn
bushwick
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stop and frisk
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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