A 19-year-old New York man has been sentenced to 37.5 years in prison after firing 15 rounds in broad daylight on a public street, striking and killing a 69-year-old innocent woman.
On Tuesday, May 5, 2026, U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff handed down the sentence to Faisil McCants for possessing a machine gun and opening fire on an East Harlem street while carrying out an armed robbery with his accomplices, causing the death of Robin Wright, who was resting on her walker on the sidewalk. McCants was also sentenced to five years of supervised release in addition to his prison term.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton made the announcement. “Faisil McCants, a repeat violent offender, unloaded 15 bullets in a matter of seconds in the middle of the day on the street in East Harlem, killing Robin Wright, a 69-year-old, wholly innocent woman and forever destroying a family,” Clayton said, according to a press release issued by his office.
“It is an unspeakable tragedy, born of wanton violence that outrages all New Yorkers and all Americans,” he added.
“McCants, a repeat violent offender, fired 15 rounds in seconds on an East Harlem street and killed an innocent 69-year-old woman,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “He will now be where he should be: serving a 37.5-year prison sentence.”https://t.co/ltnepUek9L pic.twitter.com/XvR9e3AwGR
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) May 5, 2026
According to the statements in public court filings, proceedings, and the charging documents, on Aug. 27, 2025, shortly before 12:30 p.m., McCants joined two accomplices in robbing a drug dealer near East 109th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan, New York.
During the robbery, McCants and his accomplices fought with the drug dealer. They then stole his backpacks containing marijuana and fled north on Madison Avenue, turning onto East 110th Street.
According to court filings and the press release, McCants pulled a black firearm fitted with a machine-gun conversion device from his sweatshirt pocket. He then fired 15 shots toward the drug dealer.
The bullets struck Robin Wright. She was standing with a walker in the direction McCants had fired. Wright was taken to the hospital, where she passed away.
“New York City families expect and deserve to be free from purveyors of violence,” Attorney Clayton said in his statement. “To deliver for the good people of New York, we must get gun-toting criminals off our streets.”
“New Yorkers have been clear: if someone commits a federal gun crime on our streets, New Yorkers want them prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. McCants is now where he should be, serving a 37.5-year prison sentence,” he added.
Attorney Clayton lauded the Homeland Security Investigations and the New York City Police Department for their work on the case. He also expressed gratitude to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, the United States Marshals Service, and the New York State Board of Parole.
