2 brothers in police custody in Bronx shooting of 61-year-old woman, 3rd person sought
FORDHAM, Bronx (WABC) -- Two brothers are in custody in the fatal shooting of a 61-year-old woman in the Bronx earlier this week, authorities say.
The two suspects were identified as Donald Johnson, 20, and his brother, 33-year-old Rakel Hampton, and are facing murder, manslaughter and weapons charges.
A third person is still being sought.
Police said the three were members of a group that got into a dispute with another group of people, which included a street clothing vendor.
According to police, Johnson and Hampton's group fired at the other group and one of the bullets struck the victim.
Chief of Detectives James Essig revealed on Wednesday that detectives had identified "a strong person of interest" in the death of Juana Esperanza Soriano de Perdomo, killed while walking home Monday night.
20-year-old Donald Johnson is the gunman.
The victim, 61-year-old Juana Esperanza Soriano De-Perdomo, was in front of a bodega when she was struck by bullets fired during a dispute down the block.
"She came to the store, tried to open the door," employee Adel Nasser said. "She couldn't and fell down by the store."
Investigators say it started as a fight between two groups on East 188th Street just after 7 p.m. Monday.
Police say the argument escalated, and at least one person began firing a weapon down the Grand Concourse.
Soriano De-Perdomo was struck in the back, and the mother of two and grandmother of three collapsed. Another man also running from the gunfire stayed with her in the doorway.
Responding officers tried everything, CPR and applying clot bandages to try and stop the bleeding.
Video obtained by Eyewitness News shows medics rushing her to an ambulance, and she was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital, but she did not survive.
De-Perdomo's husband died from COVID-19 back home in the Dominican Republic, and she recently moved to the Fordham section of the Bronx after having lived in NYCHA for some time.
This was suppose to be a new beginning for a woman who dedicated her life to her family.
On a busy corner off the Grand Concourse Tuesday night, as pastors sang hymns, two brothers wept silent, desperate tears for their mother.
"My mother was a beautiful person. She was receiving blessings on blessings on blessings these last couple of months, and it was just taken away, cold hearted no reason, no real reason and she didn't deserve it," the victim's son Eric Soriano De-Perdomo.
"This is a woman that cared for everybody, like for me and my brother, she cared for everybody," Victor Soriano De-Perdomo said.
An eyewitness to the event, Ella, did not want her last name used.
"These were people from the streets just kill her like nothing," she said. "The last bullet hit her, and after that, she just died in front of me."
Ella was standing right next to the victim when the gunfire erupted from down the block and the victim dropped.
"It's crazy," she said. "They just ripped that life away from that lady like nothing. That's the image I'm going to have to live with for the rest of my life."
"Another act of senseless violence on the streets of this city, mindless shootings with no thought or fear of the consequences," NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said.
The shooting happened in the 46th Precinct, where the NYPD has deployed one of its new neighborhood safety teams.
"It can be any of you -- anybody you love, anyone you love," the victim's sons said. "Cause I never thought it would happen to my mother."
Anyone with information is urged to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit tips by visiting the CrimeStoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or by messaging on Twitter @NYPDTips.
The deadly shooting comes days after another violent incident involving innocent bystanders, when a 12-year-old boy was shot and killed while sitting inside a parked car in Brooklyn.
Mayor Eric Adams met with the family of the 12-year-old boy on Monday just hours before this shooting in the Bronx.
WATCH: Young mother goes missing in Brooklyn, mom's desperate search for her
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