Upper East Side shooting: Azsia Johnson reported domestic violence but police ‘failed’ her, says mom
Young mother was pushing stroller
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Azsia Johnson, the young mother who was shot and killed while pushing her three-month-old baby in a stroller in New York City, had reportedly made multiple domestic violence complaints to police prior to her execution-style murder.
Ms Johnson’s heartbroken mother accused the police of failing to protect her 20-year-old daughter from her allegedly abusive ex-boyfriend, with investigators now searching for the baby’s father as a person of interest in her slaying.
Ms Johnson – an aspiring nurse and mother-of-two – was walking with her infant near 95th Street and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper East Side at around 8.30pm on Wednesday night.
Police said a hooded gunman approached from behind and fired a single shot to her head at point-blank range, killing her. The baby was unharmed.
The victim’s family reportedly told investigators that Ms Johnson was planning to meet the baby’s father that night.
The NYPD has refused to confirm the baby’s father is the person of interest but said investigators are exploring domestic violence as a possible motive.
The shooting unfolded in one of the city’s most affluent neighbourhoods and just blocks from a playground, just days after the Supreme Court loosened US gun laws.
Baby’s father is person of interest in fatal shooting of Azsia Johnson on Upper East Side, reports say- Aspiring nurse named as mother shot dead while pushing her baby in stroller on Upper East Side
Person of interest identified in shooting of mother in Upper East Side as domestic violence motive probed
Victim planned to meet baby’s father night she was killed, says police source
The victim planned to meet up with the father of her three-month-old baby on the night she was shot and killed, according to a police source.
A law enforcement official told New York Daily News that the 20-year-old mother sent text messages to her family members saying she was meeting the baby’s father on Wednesday night to talk some things out.
The victim – who police are still declining to publicly identify – was pushing the three-month-old in a stroller through the Upper East Side just before 8.30pm when she was approached by a hooded figure and shot at point-blank range in the head.
The man – who has not been publicly named – had allegedly assaulted the victim while she was pregnant and she was unsure if she then wanted him in their child’s life, the official said.
Police are now seeking to question the baby’s father as the person of interest in the young mother’s killing, reported NY Daily News.
Victim’s mother slams police for failing to protect daughter
The victim’s mother has hit out at police for failing to protect her daughter after she said the family filed multiple reports about her ex-partner threatening to kill her.
Lisa Desort told Fox News that the father of the three-month-old baby who her daughter was pushing in a stroller at the time of her killing is the suspect currently wanted by investigators.
She said that the suspect had “threatened me with death, my daughter with death, and my other daughter with death” and they had reported the incidents to the NYPD “numerous times”.
The grieving mother said that “no one protected” her daughter.
“The city was supposed to be protecting her. This is a domestic violence case from January. We called the precinct,” she said.
“All that anyone needs to know in this city is we called numerous times for her protection.
“No one protected my daughter, and now she’s dead.”
Her daughter – who police have not publicly named – was the mother to both the three-month-old and a two-year-old child.
That child, who she shares with another man, was not with her at the time of the shooting.
Ms Desort said that her daughter was “the best mother” and had dreams of being a pediatric nurse.
“She had been working since she was 16, and she took care of people. She was the best mother,” she said.
“My daughter did not deserve this.”
Victim is identified as Azsia Johnson
The young mother shot dead on Wednesday night has been identified as 20-year-old Azsia Johnson.
Ms Johnson’s mother confirmed her daughter as the victim to PIX11.
Mayor Eric Adams slams gun violence ‘epidemic’
New York City Mayor Eric Adams slammed the gun violence “epidemic” which he blamed for the execution-style murder of the 20-year-old mother at a time.
At a press conference on Wednesday night with other city leaders at the scene of the shooting, he hit out at the “over-proliferation of guns” and the “dangerous people that repeatedly leave our criminal justice system”.
“More guns in our city means more lives lost,” he said.
“It means more babies crying, as those who love them lie dead.”
He added: “These are real stories, real lives. When a woman is pushing a baby carriage down the block and is shot in point blank range, it shows just how this national problem is impacting families.
“It doesn’t matter if you are on the Upper East Side or East New York, Brooklyn.”
The mayor, a former NYPD officer, said that the violent slaying came just hours after New York officials had spent the day working to tackle gun violence in the city.
On Wednesday, Mr Adams announced the city was filing lawsuits against ghost gun retailers.
The mayor also met with New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand about tackling gun trafficking.
Meanwhile, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that state lawmakers were working on a gun control bill to ban people from carrying firearms in many places.
The steps come amid a surge in gun violence across both New York and the wider US and after the Supreme Court loosened gun control in a ruling last Thursday.
Children at nearby playground witnessed shooting
Young children witnessed the horrific shooting while they were enjoying a summer evening at a nearby playground.
The shooting unfolded at around 8.23pm on Wednesday near Lexington Avenue and 95th Street just steps from the Samuel Seabury Playground.
One 10-year-old girl who was there with her brother and aunt told DailyMail.com she heard a loud “boom” and saw a woman fall.
At first, she thought it might be fireworks before she realised it was a gunshot.
“I was really confused, because I thought maybe this was fireworks. But then I realized that no, this is serious and that there was a gunshot,” she said.
“And it really frightened me because I was right there at the park playing and I never would have ever thought that would happen.
“I saw a lot of people running, and I saw a woman down there, she fell.”
She added: “I was worried but then I wanted to stay calm, because I didn’t want any interaction, and I didn’t want anything else to happen.”
Victim is remembered as aspiring nurse and ‘best’ mother to two children
An aspiring nurse and young mother-of-two was identified as the woman who was shot dead at point-blank range while pushing her baby in a stroller through the Upper East Side.
Azsia Johnson, 20, died on Wednesday night after she reportedly planned to meet up with the father of her three-month-old infant.
Ms Johnson’s mother Lisa Desort said her daughter had been the victim of domestic violence by her baby’s father and that the family had filed multiple reports to the police – but that authorities had failed to protect her.
Ms Desort told Fox News that she was “the best mother” to her two children – aged three months and two years old – and had dreams of being a pediatric nurse,
“She had been working since she was 16, and she took care of people. She was the best mother,” she said. “My daughter did not deserve this.”
The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:
Azsia Johnson named as mother shot dead while pushing stroller on Upper East Side
Azsia Johnson, 20, died on Wednesday night after she reportedly planned to meet up with the father of her three-month-old baby
Vigil planned for Thursday night in honour of Azsia Johnson
A candlelight vigil has been planned for Thursday night in honour of Azsia Johnson.
The vigil will take place on East 95th street between Lexington and Third Avenue, close to the scene of the horrific shooting on Wednesday night.
It is scheduled to start at 8.30pm, the same time that the 20-year-old victim was gunned down while pushing her baby in a stroller through the area.
NYC Council Member Julie Menin, whose district covers the Upper East Side area where Ms Johnson was shot and killed, welcomed community members to come to the vigil in a post on Twitter.
“Please join us tonight for a candlelight vigil at 8:30pm on East 95th street between Lexington and Third Ave as our community mourns the tragic fatal shooting of a young mother,” she tweeted.
Map shows the shooting’s proximity to children’s playground
The shooting took place just steps away from a playground where children were playing.
Azsia Johnson was shot dead near 95th Street and Lexington Avenue in the Upper East Side at around 8.30pm on Wednesday.
The playground Samuel Seabury Park is at the same intersection.
Here is a map of the scene:
Mayor Eric Adams announces new unit to tackle gun violence
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced the launch of a new unit to tackle gun violence on Thursday – just hours after the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Azsia Johnson.
The DNA Gun Crimes Unit will speed up gun crime analysis, with forensic experts able to provide DNA results in half the current time of 60 days.
A staggering $2.5m is being channeled into the new unit, which will be overseen by New York City’s medical examiner’s office.
In a press conference announcing the unit’s launch, the mayor said it will play a “major role” in tackling gun violence in the city.
“This is a central part of our apparatus in fighting gun violence and sometime we missed this piece but without this piece, we can’t take guns off our streets and deal with people who are dangerous to our city,” he said.
Data shows spike in crimes in NYC but shootings down
The latest data released by the NYPD shows that crime has surged in New York City in the last year but that the number of shootings has actually fallen.
A total of 58,417 crimes were reported across the five boroughs in the year ending 26 June 2022 – a rise of 37.8 percent from 42,383 crimes reported in the same period in 2021.
However the number of shootings is down by 12.1 percent from 710 to 624 in the same timeframe.
The number of shooting victims has also fallen by 8.6 percent in the last year from 817 in 2021 to 747 in 2022.