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Fatal infant shooting tied to reputation rift involving father of 7-month-old, NYPD says
By
Charles Lane
Published Apr 21, 2026
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Spencer Platt/Getty Images
By
Charles Lane
Published Apr 21, 2026
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The fatal shooting of a 7-month-old girl in her Brooklyn stroller earlier this month stems from a rivalry rooted in status and turf between young men from different public housing developments, the NYPD’s top detective said Tuesday.
Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said the April 1 killing of Kaori Patterson-Moore was tied to a feud playing out on social media and in rap videos, where groups from different developments disrespect one another.
The intended target, Kenny said, was the baby’s father.
“This is not your grandfather’s gang. This is not Blood versus Crip,” Kenny said at a press briefing. “It’s development versus development.”
A 2024 Gothamist analysis of shooting hotspots in the city found the bulk of the city's gun violence is confined to a small number of streets and blocks. In many cases, disputes between neighboring developments can be some of the deadliest.
Kenny said the accused shooter, 21-year-old Amuri Greene, told detectives he fired at the father in retaliation for a shooting the day before in the Marcy Houses in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
According to court records turned over during initial discovery, Greene told detectives: “He started with us [on] Tuesday, he shot at us.”
But investigators have found no evidence that the earlier shooting ever happened, no witnesses, no shooting alerts and no one for whom the police had enough evidence to arrest, Kenny said.
Kenny said the dispute originated on the father’s social media, where he calls out rivals from other housing developments, including the Cooper Houses in East Williamsburg.
Detectives did not interview the father about his alleged affiliations, Kenny said.
Greene pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges last week in Brooklyn Supreme Court, where Judge Danny Chun ordered him held without bail.
New details emerge
Kenny also shed new light on how the baby’s parents realized she had been shot.
Patterson-Moore was with her parents and 2-year-old brother near Humboldt and Moore streets when gunfire erupted, Kenny said. The shots were mistaken for fireworks and the family kept walking.
It wasn’t until they stepped into a nearby bodega that the baby’s mother realized her daughter had been hit, Kenny said.
The father and another man ran the infant to Woodhull Hospital, where she was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound to the head. Her brother was grazed, prosecutors have said.
Kenny said surveillance video shows Greene and an alleged accomplice, 18-year-old Mathew Rodriguez, circling the nearby Bushwick Houses on a moped for several minutes before spotting their target.
“It’s obvious they’re hunting for somebody,” he said.
The pair crashed into a car as they fled. Greene broke his leg and was arrested at a hospital. Rodriguez dumped the moped and left the city, Kenny said.
Detectives tracked him to Pennsylvania by interviewing family members and associates and reviewing phone and computer records, Kenny said.
He was arrested at a relative’s home in Cresco, Pennsylvania, with help from a federal fugitive task force and extradited to New York.
Rodriguez pleaded not guilty last week.
Greene and Rodriguez each face three counts of second-degree murder, along with attempted murder, assault, weapons and child endangerment charges. They could face life in prison if convicted on the top counts.
Lawyers for both men declined to comment.
Tagged
new york city
public safety
Charles Lane
Charles is a Day-of reporter focused on breaking news and enterprise. He’s very friendly and can be reached at [email protected], or more securely on whatsapp/signal 631-295-6715
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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