On May 31, 2016, 16-year-old Shemel Mercurius was babysitting her 3-year-old cousin when 25-year-old Taariq Stephens forced his way into the Brooklyn apartment where she was staying and shot her three times with a submachine gun.
According to responding officers who were on the scene as she took her final breaths, Shemel gave up the name of the man who shot her, telling police that he did so because she refused to date him. Charged with second-degree murder and a weapons charge, Stephens could serve 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
During Stephens' trial on Monday, police detailed the scene of that horrific day. “There was a 3-year-old male child … covered in blood crying next to the victim,” Police Sgt. Ryan Habermehl said.
According to The New York Daily News, Police Officer Kyle Thomas Daly testified that he found Mercurius bleeding, seated on a toy car and slumped against the wall. “I put on gloves, took her off the car and laid her down and began rendering aid … she regained consciousness, gave me her name and date of birth,” Daly stated. Sgt. Habermehl added that he immediately called for an ambulance but “It took about 20 minutes for EMS to arrive.”
Daly testified that as Mercurius lost and regained consciousness, she told another detective that Stephens wanted them to be a couple but she wasn’t interested. After meeting at a daycare center about a week prior to the fatal incident, Mercurius and Stephens exchanged numbers.
Shortly before she was shot, Mercurius buzzed in her friend, 18-year-old Lona Junien. Junien testified that upon approaching the apartment she saw Mercurius being pushed. "The person said, ‘Don’t ever lie to me.’ She was screaming; he took out the gun and shot her,” Junien said. When cross-examined by Stephens’ attorney Junien said that the detective first identified Stephens as the shooter before she had a chance to ID the man for herself.
An immigrant from Guyana, Shemel Mercurius had lived in the U.S. with her aunt for only four years.
Such a tragic and senseless death. We send our condolences to Shemel's family and friends during these trying times.
