East NY Teen Could Spend Life Behind Bars for Broad-Daylight Murder at Local School

EAST NEW YORK, BROOKLYN — A 17-year-old convicted of shooting and killing another teenager near an East New York high school campus in broad daylight last January is facing 25 years to life in prison for the crime, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office.

Malik Streat, 17, of East New York, was convicted on Nov. 2 of second-degree murder and second-degree weapon possession stemming from a Jan. 13 shooting near the former Thomas Jefferson High School campus (now housing several smaller schools).

Darnell Wilkerson, 18, a recent graduate of one of the schools who had reportedly begun applying to colleges, was killed in the shooting.

"This senseless act of gun violence has now destroyed two families," Acting Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez said in a statement. "The life of a promising young man was cut short, and his young killer will spend more than half his life — if not the rest of his life — behind bars."

On Jan. 13, Wilkerson was standing near the corner of Livonia and Pennsylvania avenues around 2:45 p.m. to meet his younger sister when he was shot in the head twice by Streat, according to the DA. Streat fled, but was caught a few blocks away with a pistol in his pocket, the DA said. The shooting was caught on a nearby surveillance camera.

Denise Covelle, a commenter on the News 12 Brooklyn story covering the shooting, wrote: “I was there picking up my granddaughter from PS13, it was like something from an episode of Law &Order SVU. I was scared and angry at the same time. Blocks and blocks were closed off. I was thankful to see my granddaughter walk out the school. Something has to give, too much violence.”

Streat will be sentenced Nov. 21 in Brooklyn court, where he will face 25 years to life in prison.

Main Image of Thomas Jefferson High School via Google Maps