Yonkers Shooting: Teen arraigned, charged with second degree murder

Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah, has announced the arraignment of a 16-year-old Maliki for the murder of a Yonkers resident.

While disclosing this in a statement, Rocah stated that Johnson was charged in an indictment that was unsealed on August 10, 2021, with Murder in the Second Degree and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree.

“At approximately 9:30 p.m. on October 27, 2020, at the Triangle Deli on Ashburton Avenue in Yonkers, Johnson fatally shot Javon Merrill, 27, at close range. The shooting was captured on video surveillance, and Johnson, who was 15 at the time, was seen fleeing the scene,” the statement reads.

It adds, “Utilizing video surveillance, DNA forensics, and witness interviews, Yonkers Police pieced together the events that transpired that evening and identified Johnson, a resident of Dover, Delaware.”

Johnson was apprehended on August 4, 2021, in Delaware, by the Dover Police Department and the United States Marshals Service First State Fugitive Task Force. He was extradited to Westchester County on Monday.

“This tragedy highlights the urgent need to address gun violence in our cities, particularly among young people,” DA Rocah said.

“Not only are friends and family mourning the loss of Mr. Merrill, but another young person’s life has been irrevocably changed because of his own actions that day. We will continue to work with Yonkers Police and our law enforcement partners at the federal, state and local level to try and eradicate gun violence in our neighborhoods.”

The case is before Judge Helen Blackwood in the Youth Part and is being prosecuted by Homicide Bureau Chief Lana Hochheiser and Assistant District Attorney Celia Curtis.

The charges against the defendant are merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.