‘Babies killing babies’: Teens charged in shooting that killed 3-year-old, injured 7-year-old

BUFFALO, NEW YORK — Two teenagers were charged Tuesday in the fatal shooting of a 3-year-old boy killed last week as he rode his tricycle outside his Buffalo home, authorities said. The boy’s 7-year-old sister was wounded.

“Literally, babies are killing babies,” Mayor Byron Brown said as city leaders announced the charges against a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old at an evening news conference.

Ramone Carter, 3, and Jamia Griffin, 7, were not the intended targets when suspects shot another youth around 9:30 p.m. on June 21, acting Erie County Prosecutor Michael Keane said.

The children’s mother, Shakenya Griffin, told the Buffalo News the next morning that she heard gunshots and ran outside to get her children.

“He ran towards me, covered in blood,” she said. “I collapsed in my neighbor’s grass and called 911.”

Keane said each of the teens used an illegal weapon, one a pistol and the other a revolver. Both boys have been charged with murder, attempted murder, assault and weapons possession and are being held without bail in a juvenile detention center. The older boy will be sentenced as an adult if convicted, the prosecutor said.

The names of the teenagers were not released because of their ages.

Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia praised the cooperation of witnesses in leading police to the suspects, recalling how officers who arrived at the scene took Ramone to hospital themselves in hopes of saving his life.

“They were able to get this poor baby into a police car and get him to Erie County Medical Center to give him a fighting chance,” Gramaglia said. “Unfortunately, we all know that wasn’t the case. The baby was pronounced dead at the hospital.”

Keane declined to comment on a possible motive when asked if the shootings could be gang-related.

“It appears they were targeting someone else,” Brown said. “But the fact that these kids had weapons and were willing to use them indiscriminately is what brings us to this point today.”