Teenager Charged With Murder In Shooting Death Of Preschooler At Bronx Playground

A teenager has been charged with murder for the shooting death of a 4-year-old boy at a Bronx playground after a stray bullet killed the preschooler at the First Annual Ghetto Angels Basketball Tournament.

Rondell Pinkerton, 17, was taken into custody on Tuesday in connection with the death of 4-year-old Lloyd Morgan.

As NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly stated at a press conference on Tuesday:

“We are speaking to a 17-year-old young man who admits to being at the scene of the shooting. [He] admits to shooting rounds at that location. He states it was self-defense because he was being shot at.”

Pinkerton has since been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the shooting death of the child.

On Sunday evening, Pinkerton and other person, Courtney Kelly, 26, opened fired during an argument at the Forest Houses Park in Morrisania. One of the stray bullets hit the preschooler who was playing near the basketball court in the head. The 4-year-old died after being transported to Lincoln Hospital by paramedics.

Says Shianne Norman, the mother of the little boy, “My baby is gone.”

Two other men were also injured by the gunfire. A 27-year-old was shot in the stomach and a 21-year-old in the arm, but both men are expected to recover.

Choking back tears, Norman, the distraught mother, told PIX11, “You don’t even understand how this affects someone with a boy, let alone a small boy. No one expects their child to be shot at four.”

The other man, Kelly, was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, although his role in the shooting is still unclear, reports The Grio. Only Pinkerton has thus far been charged with murder.

For more information about the case, check out the following video from WPIX: