The NYPD has identified the shooter who gunned down 15-year-old Jaden Pierre at a Queens park, New York Attorney General Letitia James said at a vigil for the slain teen Monday.
James — surrounded by the victim’s family, friends and hundreds of mourners — urged the teen’s killer to turn himself in just steps from where the boy was shot in the chest inside the Nautilus Playground at Roy Wilkins Park.
“I want everyone to know that the police know who shot Jaden,” James said. “I would urge this gentleman to turn himself in, to surrender as soon as possible, before the NYPD gets to you. They know who you are. They know where you are, and I would urge you to surrender.”
At the vigil, Pierre’s family joined by dozens of friends, classmates and activists at the teen’s high school, Eagle Academy of Southeast Queens, before setting off down Merrick Blvd. toward the park where they boy was gunned down Thursday. The marchers carried white balloons and chanted, “Say his name, ‘Jaden Pierre’.”
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Family members for Jaden Pierre pray together in Roy Wilkins Park during a vigil on Monday, April 20, 2026. (Kerry Burke/New York Daily News)
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Family members for Jaden Pierre pray together in Roy Wilkins Park during a vigil on Monday, April 20, 2026. (Kerry Burke/New York Daily News)
“That was my twin,” Jaden’s father, Gardy Pierre, said of his murdered son at the vigil. “That was my man. I would do anything for that kid.”
In footage posted to X by Mayor Eric Adams on Friday, dozens of bystanders can be seen filming as Jaden is savagely beaten, when one of his attackers draws a firearm and shoots him at point-blank range.
“They put him down, he got right back up,” the victim’s father said. “They knew that was the only way to put him down, because they know he was gonna stand up tall.”
The slain teen’s family echoed James’ call for the boy’s killer to turn himself in.
“We want justice,” said Jaden’s cousin, Ramel Jones. “Whether it’s on the streets, through this criminal justice system or the penal system, your justice is coming. So do the right thing and turn yourself in. Turn yourself in.”
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Attorney General Tish James, left, holding mother of vic Shanelle Weston during a vigil for the teen killed in the Queens park. (Kerry Burke/New York Daily News)
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Attorney General Tish James, left, holding mother of vic Shanelle Weston during a vigil for the teen killed in the Queens park. (Kerry Burke/New York Daily News)
Jaden attended ninth grade at Eagle Academy and was looking forward to starting a new job through the city’s Summer Youth Employment Program, his mother said.
“It was going to be his first job,” Weston said. “He was so excited and proud.”
But on Thursday, the teen asked his father if he could go to the park to play basketball. In reality, he was going to participate in a planned water-balloon fight organized over social media, his mom said.
“If I had known about the water-balloon fight, I would have said no,” she said. “There was nothing for him there but trouble.”
It’s unclear how the dispute started, but the footage posted by Adams shows Jaden being beaten by a group of teens in the park near Baisley and Merrick Blvds. in South Jamaica around 6:16 p.m. At least three rival teens can be seen repeatedly punching and kicking Pierre as he holds his hands over his head, trying to ward off the blows, the video shows.
At one point, one of his attackers grab’s Pierre’s hoodie and throws him to the ground. Pierre quickly regains his feet but the teens continue to pummel him until gunfire rings out. The youth suddenly drops to the ground as the crowd scatters.
“Everyone there recording did nothing,” the victim’s older sister, 17-year-old Nellie Pierre, told the Daily News. “They treated it all as entertainment. He was already beat up. He was helpless and they shot him.”