The Biggest Gang Bust in New York City History

 

Tayshana Murphy, 18, a High School female basketball star in Harlem, New York, was shot dead in the early morning inside her apartment building on September 11, 2011. (Splash News: Seth Gottfried)
 

Re-posted by Nicholas Stix

I came across this story a while back at my favorite blog, where Countenance said, to paraphrase, If this was the biggest gang bust in New York City history, then they haven’t been doing much in the way of gang busts.
 

More than 100 arrested in Harlem in largest-ever NYC gang bust
By Victoria Cavaliere
June 4, 2014
Reuters/MSN

NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than 100 members of three feuding gangs were arrested in Harlem for killings and gun violence on Wednesday in what was described as the largest indictment of gang members in New York City's history, authorities said.

The arrests and indictments were part of a conspiracy investigation that stemmed from the 2011 murder of Tayshana Murphy, an 18-year-old high-school basketball star, a person familiar with the investigation said. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the sweep have not yet been officially released.

Although two young men have already been convicted for Murphy's murder, investigators broadened their inquiry into a pattern of violence they said were plaguing the neighborhood in upper Manhattan.

The gangs are accused of two homicides, 19 non-fatal shootings and about 50 other shooting incidents, according to a brief announcement from the Manhattan district attorney.

Further details were expected to be announced at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.

Prosecutors have said the murder of Murphy, a nationally ranked point guard nicknamed "Chicken," was the most widely reported casualty of an often violent feud between gangs from neighboring public apartment buildings in Harlem.

Murphy was shot three times, in her wrist, hip and chest, at about 4 a.m. in a hallway of her Grant Houses apartment building on Sept. 11, 2011. Her murder came after a long evening of fighting between the gangs, prosecutors said at the time.

Tyshawn Brockington, 24, and Robert Cartagena, 23, who were associated with a gang in the Manhattanville Houses project, were convicted for Murphy's murder and sentenced to between 25 years and life in prison.

(Additional reporting by Laila Kearney; Writing by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Bill Trott)