Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, joined by NYPD Chief of Department Rodney Harrison, announced today that Sean Brown, 18, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on murder and weapon charges for the October 26, 2019 killing of 14-year-old Aamir Griffin. The reputed gang member allegedly sought to shoot and kill a rival on the basketball courts at Baisley Park Houses when he mistook the victim for his intended target.

District Attorney Katz said, “At the bare minimum, when our kids go to the park, families should know they are coming home. Death by gun violence is always heartbreaking. The death of Aamir Griffin hit our community particularly hard. A promising young student and athlete whose life was tragically cut short, Aamir Griffin was the unintended victim. His family and friends are still reeling from his killing. After a thorough investigation, the alleged killer now faces justice in our Courts.”

NYPD Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said, “Aamir Griffin was a child of New York City, a kid who was loved and taken much too soon by the kind of senseless gun violence we fight against every hour of every day. Nothing could erase the pain of Aamir’s murder nearly two years ago, but our NYPD investigators and our partners in the Queens District Attorney’s office never forget or give up and today we have an indictment that offers one measure of justice.”

Brown, of Jamaica, Queens, was arraigned today before Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder on an indictment charging him with murder in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. Justice Holder held the defendant without bail and ordered the defendant to return to court on September 14, 2021. If convicted, Brown faces up to 25 years to life in prison.

The DA said that around 8 p.m. on October 26, 2019, Aamir Griffin was playing basketball at the Baisley Park Houses. From nearby Foch Boulevard, defendant Brown mistook Aamir Griffin for a rival gang member and allegedly fired three shots from a .380 caliber firearm. One bullet penetrated the victim’s upper chest, piercing both lungs. Aamir Griffin was rushed to a nearby hospital and died.

Video footage allegedly shows the defendant running from the area after the shots were fired, entering a nearby deli and walking to the home of another reputed Money World gang member. Surveillance video also picks up Brown allegedly telling others, “I seen that n—, I hit him. That n—- drop.”

The investigation was conducted by Detective James Richardson and Detective Christopher Cruzado of 113^th Detective Squad, Detective John McHugh of the Gun Violence Suppression Division and Detective David Pulice, of Queens South Homicide Squad.

Assistant District Attorney Barry Frankenstein, Section Chief, and Assistant District Attorney Diana Schioppi, of the Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau, are prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Jonathan Sennett, Bureau Chief and Michelle Goldstein, Senior Deputy Chief and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations, Gerard Brave.