Tragedy in Morrisania Bronx as Schoolyard Fight Turns Deadly

What began as a typical schoolyard scuffle ended in tragedy on a quiet Monday afternoon in the Bronx. A burst of gunfire shattered the routine chaos of teen disputes, leaving a 16-year-old girl dead and a 14-year-old boy charged with murder.

The conflict unfolded outside a school building in Morrisania, home to multiple schools, including a charter and two high schools. A fistfight earlier in the day had reignited after school let out, with tensions running high. As one boy walked away from a skirmish, another ran up and punched him. In an instant, the altercation escalated beyond fists. Someone handed the 14-year-old a gun. He pulled the trigger three times into a crowd of students.

One of the bullets struck Evette Jeffrey in the head. She wasn’t involved in the fight. She was simply walking with her boyfriend, celebrating their anniversary, and had stopped to visit friends near the schoolyard, her scooter in tow. It was 5:04 p.m. She collapsed to the ground and was rushed to Lincoln Hospital, where she was pronounced dead within the hour.

“She was an innocent bystander,” said authorities, who arrested the teenage shooter the next day as he attempted to get into a taxi near the scene.

Evette’s mother, Kristen Abad, still reeling from the loss, recalled the moment she was told her only daughter — her “baby girl” — was gone. A neighbor had rushed in with the news, waking her from a nap. The family sprinted barefoot through the streets, only to arrive after the ambulance had already taken Evette away. At the hospital, they received the heartbreaking confirmation just 15 minutes later.

Evette had recently transferred schools due to ongoing violence. “She had been jumped and attacked multiple times,” her mother shared. At her new school, she was thriving — until a stray bullet cut her life short.

The shooting has reignited concerns about school safety in the area. Police reports show over 20 incidents involving the same schools since last year. Students like 12-year-old Williams Miralda speak of regular fights, often erupting in bathrooms or nearby parks. He witnessed the aftermath of the shooting. “I couldn’t sleep,” he said. “I felt like throwing up.”

Community members describe a neighborhood that was beginning to feel safer, only to be jolted by this devastating act. Local resident Matthew Delgado said things had been improving — until now. “Right when you say that, things turn out really bad.”

For a community trying to protect its youth, the question now is how to prevent more schoolyard fights from turning into funerals.