A judge closed the book Wednesday on a particularly shocking episode of teenage gun violence in the Bronx, sentencing a teen gunman to 10 years to life in prison for killing an 11-year-old girl with a stray bullet meant for a 13-year-old boy.
Young Kyhara Tay, 11, was waiting for friends outside a nail salon in 2022 on the corner of Fox St. and Westchester Ave. in Longwood on May 16 when she was hit in the abdomen by an adolescent shooter, Matthew Godwin of Bronx Park South, who was 15 years old when he fired several rounds at a rival from the back of a scooter.
One of his bullets sailed half a block down Fox St., hitting the young 6th grader in the stomach, mortally wounding her.
The incident was said to have been sparked by an escalating gang war involving players not much older than the victim who was killed.
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Godwin, now 18, plead guilty to the murder that outraged the city, offering an apology for the shooting.
“Dear family of Kyhara Tay, I’m so sorry for what I’ve done and the pain I caused you. I’m also very disappointed in myself for what I’ve done and the pain I’ve caused and take full responsibility for my actions. I was only 15 year old and didn’t understand the consequences of what I was doing. As I got older I understand I took the life of an innocent young girl. At night I cried myself to sleep thinking of what I’ve done. Not a day goes by when I don’t feel regret and remorse,” Godwin said before being sentenced.
Judge Joseph A McCormack weighed in on the incident, scolding Godwin for taking a life and terrorizing a community.
“You took out a gun on a public street in Bronx county and miscellaneously sprayed bullets of death randomly across the sidewalks and you took that poor little girl’s life,” McCormack said. “But you also affected the feeling of safety that every New Yorker and every Bronx citizen that walks our streets.”
“You can’t change whats happened to all of these people. You can’t change what affect you had on society. Your only option here is to make the best of your life going forward,” McCormack continued.
Kyhara and one of her pals ducked behind a car for cover at first, but when she tried to run into a nearby salon, the errant round hit her.
Kyhara slumped into one of the salon chairs, then passed out on the floor, a witness told the Daily News.
“She was trying to run away from the shots,” she said. “She was holding her stomach. She kept saying, ‘Ow, it hurts!’ Her friend was freaking out,” nail salon customer Lillian Johnson told the Daily News in 2022. “They had just gotten out of school. They had their book bags and everything.”
EMS transported Kyhara to Lincoln Hospital where she died that same day.
Police arrested Godwin and the scooter’s driver, Omar Bojang, then 18 years old, days later. At the time, cops revealed another sad detail — both teenage suspects had also been the victims of gun violence before Kyhara’s shooting.
Godwin’s defense attorney Michael Anthony Marinaccio said his client was a victim of a drive-by shooting prior to the Kyhara’s murder, which Godwin suffered injuries to his left leg.
ADA John Miras contested the incident and said that NYPD found no evidence of a drive-by shooting as the shot spotter did not detect a shooting at the location where Godwin claimed he was wounded. At the hospital where Godwin was treated, both he and his mother were “extremely uncooperative” and NYPD believed the gunshot wound was self inflicted, Miras said.
“The defendant shot himself inside his own apartment while his mother and friends were present,” said Miras. “I wanted to make that clear as far as NYPD is concerned there was no drive by shooting that injured the defendant.”
Bojang’s sentencing was delayed until May 17th so he can complete an interview with the NYPD department of probation. Once the interview is completed, it is expected Bojang will be sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for the incident.
“[Kyhara’s parents] won’t be able to escape the thoughts of what could have been, what might have been, what the future would have brought for their daughter,” McCormack said to Bojang. “Yes your co-defendant did pull the trigger from the back, but that’s why you are facing such a long prison sentence, because you were complicit.”
May 20, 2022: Boy, 14, hunted in girl slay
New York Daily News Front page for May 20, 2022: 11-year-old Bronx victim hit by stray bullet. Police have zeroed in on a young suspect in shooting death of 11-year-old Kyhara Tay (above).
Bronx DA Darcel Clark weighed in on the sentencing calling it a “culmination of justice” and that the family for young Kyhara will continue to be activists against gun violence.
“Kyhara never had the chance to grow up,” said Clark. “She was an innocent 11-year-old girl who was killed when the defendant, 15 years old at the time, started shooting at a 13-year-old boy. Her death is a profound tragedy, especially considering the ages of everyone involved. Today’s sentence is the culmination of justice, but this is not the final chapter of Kyhara’s life story. Her family turned their pain into purpose by speaking out against gun violence. Through their voice, Kyhara’s legacy will live on.”
Kyhara’s mother, Yahisha Gomez, expressed her ongoing grief and outrage in a victims impact statement, calling out Godwin and his accomplice over the senseless shooting that stole her young girl’s life.
“A mother should never feel this pain. An innocent child should never be taken away from a mother like this,” Gomez said in the statement. “We know that this sentence will never bring back Kyhara but it will take 2 reckless individuals off the streets, and that will give us some comfort.”
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