A 16-year-old Bronx boy barely survived a shooting a year ago only to be killed Sunday by two determined gunmen on scooters — who cops believe may have been seeking revenge for the recent shootings of several other teens.
Ramon Gil-Medrano, who police say was a member of the 800 YGz gang, was shot in the head and torso while sitting in the back of a livery cab at E. 178th St. and Valentine Ave. in Tremont about 11:35 p.m. Sunday.
Investigators believe his death was likely retribution for the shooting death of a 13-year-old boy just hours earlier, all part of a wild and seemingly unstoppable cycle of revenge and retribution tearing up the Bronx.
Gil-Medrano’s mother, Yvonne Medrano-Feliz, told the Daily News her son had turned his life around after he was wounded in a shooting a year ago and was on a positive path when he was killed.
“It was really bad for him last time but he was able to surpass that,” Medrano-Feliz, said. “He never went back to being the same person.”
Medics rushed Gil-Medrano to St. Barnabas Hospital after he was shot Sunday but he could not be saved. The scooter-riding shooters fled north on Valentine Ave. and are being sought.
Gil-Medrano was on his way to a friend’s place to record when he was gunned down.
“He loved music and was making a disc because he wanted to be able to sell his music, become famous and make some money,” his mother said through tears. “He was going into his last year of school. He had many friends. He made friends easily and helped them.”
The livery driver was not hurt in the shooting, which police believe is linked to gang tensions.
“He took a taxi because that’s the most safe,” Gil-Medrano’s sister, who did not want to be named, said. “He had just left. Everything happened so fast.”
The family got a frantic call from a friend who was on the phone with Gil-Medrano and heard the shots — before the phone went dead.
“That was very horrific for him to hear on the phone, to hear his friend being killed while he was talking to him,” the sister said.
Seven alleged members of 800 YGz, which stands for Young Gunners, were federally indicted in May for racketeering conspiracy.
Gil-Medrano, who was not one of those indicted, had his own legal woes, with three prior gun arrests, one of which was sealed.
Despite the alleged gang ties, the victim’s sister said her brother had good friends.
“He surrounded himself with good kids,” she said. “I don’t think my brother was a gang member . . . There has been a killing spree with young teenagers being killed by gun violence, so just because my brother was killed doesn’t mean he was in a gang. His only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
On July 7, 2020, Gil-Medrano was shot at Prospect Ave. and Oakland Place in Crotona, leaving him in critical condition. Nobody has been arrested in that case. Cops said it did not help that Gil-Medrano would not help investigators as he recovered.
Gil-Medrano was hospitalized for two weeks before being nursed back to health by his family at home.
“His recovery process wasn’t easy — it was very painful for him and it was very painful for us to watch,” his sister said. “It was a miracle he wasn’t paralyzed.”
The attack that wounded Gil-Medrano was eerily similar to the ambush that killed him. He was shot last year by two men on a scooter. Gil-Medrano suffered a deep flesh wound to the back and was taken to Jacobi Medical Center after the first shooting.
At the time he told police he “would never help the NYPD” in any manner, sources said.
Now cops are investigating if Gil-Medrano was killed in retaliation for the death of 13-year-old Jaryan Elliot, who was shot dead on E. 187th St. in Belmont eight hours earlier in a slaying cops also believe was gang-related.
“He was just a little boy,” neighbor Angie Hernandez, 39, said of Jaryan. “He never got involved with anybody, so I don’t know why this happened to him. He was a really kind kid. It hurts.”
Famliy friend Abdul Rahin Shabazz, 62, taught Jaryan to box.
“He was taller than all of us,” Shabazz said. “He sprouted up so fast that everybody was like ‘Oh my gosh, how’d you get so big so quick?’ Everybody knows Jaryan. Everybody loves Jaryan.”
“Our kids are constantly killing each other and there’s nothing being done,” Shabazz added. “There’s nothing in our community, no programs . . . It’s the same thing that keeps going on and on.”
A neighbor who declined to give her name witnessed Jaryan being shot.
“Nobody should have to see that,” she said. “I can’t sleep, I see his face over and over in my head.”
Cops are also checking to see if the Friday shooting of Aloussenou Bah, 18, is connected to Gil-Medrano’s death. Bah was shot in the chest around 6 p.m. while standing outside his family’s home on Crotona Ave. near Boston Road. He was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital in critical condition. An arrest was made in that case.
Bah was shot and wounded just five days after his older brother, Mamadou Bah, was shot to death on the Fourth of July two blocks from the family’s home.
Their distraught mother, Halimata Bah, 46, said she couldn’t bear the thought of losing another son.
“It’s horrible, horrible for me,” she said, crying. “Thank God Aloussenou is in the hospital right now. He didn’t pass away.”
Halimata Bah said her younger son was standing outside their building with his aunt when shots rang out. On Monday he was opening his eyes and talking in his hospital bed. But when the pain comes, he closes his eyes again.
The mother said she didn’t know about any gang activity but she said the violence has been enough to drive her family out of their home. She said the family has split up, moved in with family and friends because they’re so scared.
“I’m gonna go back to Africa now or another state because I’m scared in New York right now,” she said.
Aloussenou had the same fear. The Stony Brook University student shared those worries in an essay posted online for a college writing course.
“Growing up, I always saw things around my community that made me feel unsafe,” Aloussenou wrote. “My entire life, I lived in the same apartment, in what is known as the ‘hood.’ In the hood, I got used to seeing gang activity, and crime.”
The city’s homicide and shootings rates have slowed the last few weeks, though murders are still up 5% for the year with 225 people slain this year compared to 215 victims by this time last year.
And the 931 people shot so far this year is 22% more than the 762 victims by this time last year.
Gil-Medrano’s murder was the eighth and last for the week ending Sunday, compared to 15 homicides during the same week last year. There were 92 people shot during this week last year but that number dropped to 45 this year.
The grieving sister described Gil-Medrano as a “people person” who was excited to turn 17 in September.
“He was friendly and he was humorous. He would stand up to bullies who would bully girls and boys in school,” the sister said.
“He was just a kid who loved hanging out with his friends and playing video games and just looking forward to life. He was looking forward to his birthday. He was looking forward to getting a car, to learning how to drive, to graduating high school. He didn’t deserve this.”
The family spoke out on the same day New York City mayoral hopeful Eric Adams met with President Biden at the White House for a strategy session on how to stem a nationwide surge in shootings.
“How is it that these people have access to guns in the first place?” Gil-Medrano’s sister asked. “Pass more laws that protect teen from gun violence.”
