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J'Ouvert Shooting Victim Reportedly Killed After She Told Man To Stop Grinding On Her
By
Scott Heins
Published Sep 7, 2016
Modified Sep 7, 2016
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By
Scott Heins
Published Sep 7, 2016
Modified Sep 7, 2016
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Tiarah Poyau, a 22-year-old St. John's student who was murdered during the J'Ouvert celebration in Brooklyn Monday morning, was reportedly shot in the face after she told a man to stop grinding on her. Police sources told the Post that Poyau had been walking with three friends on Empire Boulevard near Franklin Avenue at roughly 4:15 a.m. Monday when a man approached and began dancing with her. Poyau told the stranger "Get off me" at which point the man allegedly pulled out a gun and shot her in the eye at close range.
Yesterday, police arrested 20-year-old Reginald Moise in connection with Poyau's death. Moise allegedly told detectives he didn't know his gun was loaded when he pulled the trigger, and investigators believe he may have been intoxicated at the time.
"I think I shot somebody," Moise reportedly told a friend in the hours after Poyau's death. Police say that Moise attempted to hide his gun at an acquaintance's apartment Monday morning—an acquaintance the Post reports to be his girlfriend. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce alleged that Moise fired off two rounds while in the apartment Monday morning and cut his hand while breaking a mirror. ABC reports that officers recovered 9-mm casings inside the apartment that matched others found near Poyau's body.
According to Boyce, Moise was pulled over in Brooklyn at 7:57 a.m. Monday at the corner of Parkside Avenue and Parade Place for driving under the influence. "He crashed into three cars," Boyce said, adding, "When they pull him from the car his hand is cut up and tied off with a Caribbean flag." Moise has five prior arrests, all of which are sealed.
Moise has been charged preliminarily with second degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon, and reckless endangerment in connection to Poyau's death. One of Poyau's neighbors described her to the Times as always kind and friendly. "She was a beautiful girl," Gwen Wilkinson said. "I knew her for years. She was always saying hello." In the hours after she was murdered, Poyau's friends and family described her as ambitious and career-driven; she had worked as a tax intern at PricewaterhouseCoopers and planned to become an accountant.
"This young lady is just a stellar person," Boyce said. "No issues in her life whatsoever, and none before either."
"At least we are going to get some type of justice," Walberto Perez, 23, a high school classmate of Poyau, told the Post. "It's just horrible."
"I hope this is a lesson to the next one who wants to act wild and go to a parade to shoot up someone," Poyau's neighbor, Anna Jackson, 57, said. "Why would you bring a gun to a parade? You're supposed to go to have fun, not shoot people."
Poyau was not the only victim of violence during J'Ouvert: 17-year-old Tyreke Borel was fatally shot in the chest near the intersection of Empire Boulevard and Flatbush Avenue, an intersection in the middle of the party that drew hundreds of thousands throughout the pre-dawn hours Monday. As nearby crowds scattered, 72-year-old Margaret Peters was also wounded by a bullet that pierced her hand and struck her arm. No arrests have yet been made in connection to Borel's death.
The deadly violence that has repeatedly marred J'Ouvert has led some, including Crown Heights Assemblyman Walter Mosley and NY1 reporter Errol Louis, to call for its cancellation. Other public figures rebuffed those demands, arguing that its large size and sprawling open streets format could only be suppressed by the National Guard or a declaration of martial law. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Mayor de Blasio sided with the latter camp. "J'Ouvert will continue, but we're going to look for every conceivable way to make it safer," he said.
Tagged
jouvert
Regenald Moise
Tiarah Poyau
Scott Heins
Scott Heins is a freelance photo and video journalist based in New York City, and a frequent contributor to Gothamist + WNYC. His work often centers around labor rights, housing, and policing. In 2018-2019 he traveled to four states while covering a wave of public school teachers strikes, with work featured in The New York Times, The Intercept, Getty Images, Splinter, and Bloomberg Photos. Scott is a dues-paying member of the National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project.
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