Heat wave in New York, 2016.
Photo: Mariela Lombard / El Diario
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Dion Middleton, a NYC prison guard, was arrested on suspicion of fatally shooting teenager Raymond Chaluisant while he was playing with a water pistol early yesterday in the Bronx (NYC).
The fatal shooting took place at the Cross Bronx Expressway and Morris Ave, but Chaluisant was found half a mile away, police said. He was unconscious in the passenger seat of a silver Acura when NYPD arrived at the Grand Concourse and E. Tremont Ave. at 1:35 a.m. Thursday in the vecindario Mount Hope, detailed Daily News.
Police did not immediately release the name of the driver of the vehicle, who was an acquaintance of Chaluisant. It was only reported that he is 22 years old and resides in Yonkers. The victim’s family doesn’t know who he was with, but he had told his mother that he was going to a McDonald’s restaurant.
Middleton, 45, a Department of Corrections (DOC) officer, was off duty at the time of 18-year-old Chaluisant’s death. After being arrested he was charged with involuntary manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon, among other charges.
According to police, Chaluisant was spraying water with a toy gun from inside a car and Middleton allegedly returned fire with his own gun, firing more than once, the sources said. It was unclear who the teen was pointing at or if the detainee thought it was a real gun, police said.
Chaluisant’s older sister, Jiraida Esquilin (29), said her little brother was participating in a water pistol fight with friends from the neighborhood on a summer night, in the middle of the wave extreme heat in the city.
“I can’t believe a prison officer killed my brother. Everything nowadays is a thing of rage… They were just having fun.” lament. “It’s a new nerf gun that shoots water. The whole neighborhood was having a water pistol fight. It was 90 degrees F.”
This new homicide adds to the experts’ fears that New York was going to experience a spike in violence this summer, both with firearms and white.
