Henry Thomas was arrested Friday morning in Harlem. He is charged with murder as police continue searching for a second suspect in Makhi Brown's death.
Brown was allegedly breaking up an argument between two Broome Street Academy Charter High School students when someone pulled a gun and shot him in the head.
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"That's just who he is. He's a loyal person. That's just something that was instilled in him," his father, Maurice Brown, said.
Officials say two men fled the scene of the shooting on a Citi Bike.
On Wednesday night, loved ones remembered the 16-year-old victim and pleaded for the end of gun violence.
Brown was an outstanding high school student and basketball player who was already talking about playing college ball.
"Watching him from a baby, changing his Pampers as he grew to be a gentleman, loved school, loved sports," his aunt, Fatima Brown said.
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Community leaders in East Flatbush, where Brown lived, held a vigil for him earlier this week, and some pleaded with the community to help stop gun violence in the city.
"This is New York City, nothing is really safe out here. Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, Coney Island, Staten Island. This is everywhere," Maurice Brown said.
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