Brooklyn woman killed after asking neighbors to stop shooting fireworks near kids
Shatavia Walls told her mother that she was shot by the same man she spoke to hours before she was murdered
Brooklyn mother, Shatavia Walls, was shot in the courtyard of the Louis Heaton Pink Houses in East New York on July 7.
Walls was allegedly killed by a man she recently confronted for lighting illegal fireworks. After being shot, the 33-year-old told her mother it wasn’t the first time she’d seen her shooter.
READ MORE: Black teen shot by white man over fireworks, hundreds memorialize victim
According to Walls’ mother, Helen Testagrose, she was shot by the same man she’d told to stop lighting fireworks, days before she was killed. The assailant apparently listened to Walls’ warning regarding his use of the fireworks. He left the scene, ceasing to light fireworks.
Later, he and others returned with a gun, shooting Walls and her companion, Kelvin Hernandez, Fox 6 Now reports.
It is believed that the shooter was gang affiliated.
Testagrose shared that before the shooting, there was a physical altercation between Walls and one of the men in the group. According to her account, her daughter did not back down from him and fought until being injured.
Walls was shot eight times. Her shooting took place at around 8:30 a.m. at 1259 Loring Ave. Hernandez survived.
Twitter responded in disbelief.
Her killing also comes about a month following the New York Police Department’s decision to disband its anti-crime unit of plain-clothes officers on June 15.
“Go talk to the young people or the people on your block who are using fireworks” instead of calling 911 or 311, said Eric Adams, Brooklyn Borough President, a month prior to Walls untimely death.
“… For critics of the department, the anti-crime units have become a symbol of the aggressive policing strategies that are now being called into question by the protest movement,” wrote Ali Watkins, New York Times.
Walls was also allegedly gang affiliated also.
According to the New York Daily News, in 2018, she was rounded up by the feds in a bust with 11 reputed members of the “Mac Baller Brims,” a Bloods offshoot. Walls pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute narcotics last year. Before her untimely death, she was awaiting sentencing. In the paperwork, the Feds did not name her as a gang member but did identify her boyfriend, Kevin St. Hill as a Brim.
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Following the shooting death of Walls, the Brooklyn Borough President revisited the advice he shared with New York residents, delivering a new statement.
“If a situation escalates to the point where someone is becoming disrespectful or violent, the police should be called,” Adams added. “We can never and will never condone any form of violence. The person who shot Ms. Walls must be found and held criminally responsible. My heart goes out to her and her entire family on this horrific incident.”
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