17-Year-Old Charged With Murder in the Killing of Javits Frimpong as His Parents Plead for Justice
A 17-year-old has been arrested and charged with murder in the shooting death of Javits Frimpong, the 15-year-old Bronx student killed on his walk to school last month, the NYPD announced Wednesday. The teenager, who has not been publicly identified because of his age, was also charged with manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon. The charges are allegations, and police say the case is not closed.
Javits was shot in the abdomen shortly before 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 29, near East 171st Street and Crotona Place in the Claremont section of the Bronx, on his way to DreamYard Preparatory School. He was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he died. Police have said three teenagers fled the scene that morning, and investigators are still searching for additional suspects.
Javits arrived in New York from Ghana on October 28, 2025, when his father picked him up at JFK Airport — exactly one year and one day before he was killed. He was a quiet, studious kid who did his homework and dreamed of becoming a physician after serving in the military, his family said. “He was very, very, very excited,” his father recalled.
The arrest came just hours before Javits’ parents stood with the Rev. Al Sharpton and the family’s attorney, Ben Crump, at the National Action Network’s House of Justice in Harlem. His mother, Doris Adu Gyamfi, who traveled from Ghana after being granted an emergency visa, broke down at the podium. “I only had one child, and that was Javits,” she said. His father, Thomas Frimpong, added: “I need justice for my son.”
Both the family and investigators have pointed to reported bullying at school as one thread in the case. Thomas Frimpong has said the school’s principal called him two days before the shooting to tell him two boys who had fought with Javits had been suspended. NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said the alleged bullying is “one aspect that we’re looking at, as well as some others,” and made clear there is no indication Javits was involved in any gang activity. “He was trying to live the American dream,” Kenny said. Police have not announced a motive.
The killing also drew a response from Cardi B, who grew up in the Bronx and spoke about the case on Instagram Live. She said what happened to Javits is “the reason why I will never raise a kid in the Bronx,” and spoke about the bullying faced by new immigrant students, saying “everybody be bullying the new kids.”
Javits’ funeral is scheduled for Friday, November 20, in the Bronx. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
Sources: NYPD statements (Associated Press, ABC7 New York, PEOPLE) · Frimpong family press conference, National Action Network House of Justice, Harlem, November 11, 2026 · New York Post · The Shade Room · Complex
