18-year-old shot and killed in Bronx was planning to join US Navy

CeFaan Kim Image
Monday, February 3, 2025 9:43PM
Teen shot and killed in Bronx was hours away from final US Navy interview
CeFaan Kim spoke to family members after an 18-year-old was shot and killed over the weekend.

TREMONT, Bronx (WABC) -- An 18-year-old shot and killed over the weekend on his way home from a party was getting ready to serve his country.

Juan Pena was killed early Sunday morning in the Tremont section of the Bronx and was just hours away from his final interview with the U.S. Navy.

By all accounts, Pena was an upstanding citizen, with no run-ins with law enforcement and zero criminal history.

He had just texted his mother he was on his way home moments before he was gunned down.

Pena was with a friend when he took his last breath. That friend called his older sister.

"I didn't know he was dead at the time, I didn't know he was dead," sister Anyer Pena said. "I didn't talk to him last night. I went to work. I didn't see him. I didn't see him last night."

"He was a happy person, full of joy, very friendly, he had the whole block behind his back," she said.

Police say he was shot multiple times around 1:30 a.m. on the corner of Park and East Tremont avenues.

Investigators say a black vehicle drove up to him, words were exchanged and then gunfire erupted before the suspects drove off.

"He doesn't deserve mercy, you don't deserve it, you don't deserve mercy," his sister said. "You're supposed to be in prison right not. You're supposed to be in prison for killing my brother. He's only 18 years old right now."

"I love you so much, I believed in you, there was never a graduation that I was never there for him," the victim's aunt Shery Olivo said. "He told me, 'aunt, I wanna join the military' and I said 'that's a great choice, to serve this country and to fight for this country you're doing the right thing and I will always support you,' it's a shame that they took him away from us."

At this point investigators haven't released a motive but his family believes it may have been a case of mistaken identity.

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