Teen gunman sought after 15-year-old shot and killed inside Bronx apartment
KINGSBRIDGE HEIGHTS, Bronx -- The search is on for a teen gunman after a 15-year-old was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head inside an apartment in the Bronx on Wednesday evening.
Riley Billingslea was discovered dead just before 5:30 p.m. on Claflin Avenue in the Kingsbridge Heights section.
As police investigated, a 13-year-old friend of the victim was located with a graze wound to the torso. That second boy, also from the Bronx, was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital in stable condition.
The 13-year-old told detectives that a 16-year-old shot the 15-year-old in the head during an argument in the fifth-floor apartment.
"He was gonna throw some pain on him," the surviving victim said to police.
The alleged gunman pulled the gun, which has not been recovered, out of his backpack and opened fire on the 15-year-old, the younger victim told police. The grazed boy then fled to his apartment for help.
As police search for Billingslea's killer, the victim's family is drowning in pain.
"Um... he was good. He was good. I mean everybody has faults, but he was good," said Elaine Rogers, the victim's grandmother.
The anguish Rogers is experiencing was apparent.
"Um I don't think I can right now, without breaking down so I would refrain from saying something right not, but he was a very nice young man. Whitty," she said.
Detectives are investigating the circumstances leading up to the two teens being shot.
This is the second time this week a teenager has been found fatally shot inside a Bronx apartment.
On Monday, 16-year-old John Nunez was shot and killed inside an apartment. He suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police were searching for a 16-year-old boy who ran from the apartment after the shooting. He was later picked up Monday afternoon for questioning.
Detectives believe the teenagers may have been playing with a firearm when it discharged, but the investigation into that shooting remains ongoing.
At least nine New York City minors under the age of 18 have been killed so far this year.
Billingslea's loved ones, meanwhile, are pleading for his killer to come forward.
"If it was an accident then explain it. Let us understand that it was an accident. Just come forward," the family said.
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