Girl, 10, Is Killed and Teenager Hurt as Dispute Leads to Gunfire at Barbecue (Published: September 7, 2005)

Naiesha Pearson, 10, was fatally shot at a neighborhood barbecue.

Jose Cintron was comforted by his nephew Joshua Tuesday, after his daughter Naiesha Pearson was killed in Mott Haven, the Bronx. Another victim, Leonardo DeAnza, 19, underwent nearly 11 hours of surgery.

It was an annual tradition that most everyone in the Bronx neighborhood had eagerly awaited: the end-of-summer barbecue, when neighbors pooled their money to buy shrimp, lobsters and steaks.

The barbecue, at the Saw Mill Playground in Mott Haven on Monday, began like any other: The adults grilled, the teenagers flirted, the children played. But it ended abruptly just before 9 p.m. when a dispute led to a shooting that killed Naiesha Pearson, 10, and seriously injured Leonardo DeAnza, 19.
Residents of the blocks between East 137th and 140th Street, near Brook Avenue, had raised $500 for the barbecue, said Hilda Alvarez, 45, a godmother to both Naiesha and Mr. DeAnza. Yesterday, they were collecting money again - this time to pay for Naiesha's funeral.
Along with offering condolences, many residents vowed to serve "justice" to the man responsible for Naiesha's death. Rene Bonilla, 20, of East 137th Street was arrested early yesterday in the shooting.
"It's never good to say, 'An eye for an eye,' but you got to say it," said one of Naiesha's aunts, Elaine Cintron, 28. "We're very angry."
Throughout the day, dozens of neighbors stopped at the fence around the playground, a few feet from where Naiesha and Mr. DeAnza were shot, to hang balloons, bouquets and stuffed animals, and to write condolences on a white sign that read, "R.I.P. Na-Na."
About 50 tall glass candles lay near the feet of Ms. Alvarez, who sat near a small bench where residents slipped dollar bills into a green tin can and a plastic container. "We have our ups and downs, but the community comes together," Ms. Alvarez said, as tears streamed down from behind her black sunglasses.
The police said Naiesha's death was the sixth homicide this year in the 40th Precinct. Many residents said things have improved dramatically in the past decade.
"It used to be a real rough place," said Felix Colon, 47, who was raised in the neighborhood. "I hope this doesn't mean that it's going back to the way it was."
Miguel Montalvo, 16, said that he lived in Mr. Bonilla's apartment building and that on Monday, he saw Mr. Bonilla walk up to Mr. DeAnza, who was standing in front of the playground, and demand that Mr. DeAnza return his phone.
"He said, 'Give me my phone, or we'll have problems,' " Mr. Montalvo recalled. They argued briefly, and Mr. Bonilla left. When he returned, Mr. Montalvo said, he shot at Mr. DeAnza, but hit Naiesha. Mr. DeAnza tried to shield the girl, but fell after he was also shot, witnesses said.
Mr. DeAnza was shot three more times as he lay on the ground, Ms. Alvarez said, adding that the bullets punctured his liver, kidneys, and bladder. He underwent nearly 11 hours of surgery at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, she said. He was listed in stable condition late last night.
Michelle Sandel, 26, said she heard shots and rushed to grab Naiesha, who was rocking back and forth, saying: "It scared me. It scared me."
"I grabbed her, and she took two steps and collapsed," she said. "When she turned, that's when I saw the blood." Naiesha died later at the hospital.
A group of about 10 to 15 young men, including Mr. Montalvo, chased the gunman, who ran into a building on 138th Street, witnesses said. "Everybody was fighting, everybody was going crazy," Mr. Montalvo said.
Mr. Bonilla, who suffered a spinal injury on a fire escape before his arrest, was taken to Jacobi Medical Center and was expected to be arraigned there today or tomorrow on charges including second-degree murder and attempted murder, the law enforcement officials said.
Mr. Bonilla did not have any prior arrests, the police said.
Naiesha's mother, Taisha Pearson, declined to speak to reporters. Her father, Jose Cintron, 30, said his daughter, who was about to enter the fifth grade at Public School 65, doted on her three brothers and her 3-month-old sister.
Yesterday morning, Mr. Cintron knelt to the ground and beat it with his fist as he shouted through tears, "He's going to die." A few minutes later, he kissed a photograph of his daughter that was hanging on the fence and whispered softly, promising to "shed his blood."
But by the afternoon, his tone had changed. Mr. Cintron told reporters calmly that his daughter would not want him or anyone else to retaliate.
"Why, so someone else can mourn like me?" he asked.