A teen has been busted upstate in connection to the shooting death of a 15-year-old boy who was gunned down in a Brooklyn park back in September, law enforcement sources said Wednesday.
The young suspect – who investigators believe was on the run for nearly five months – was picked up in Binghamton early Wednesday, the sources told The Post.
He is expected to face charges in the Sept. 8 afternoon slaying of Unique Smith, who was blasted in the stomach by one of two masked bandits who asked about his gang affiliation, sources said.
Smith, a student at Brooklyn Laboratory Charter Schools, was sitting on a bench inside McLaughlin Park with two school-age girls around 1:40 p.m. when the suspects questioned him, authorities and sources previously said.
“Words were exchanged and a fist fight ensued,” Chief of Detectives James Essig said at a press conference. “The male – who is described as wearing all black and a black mask – removed a firearm firing one time and striking our victim.”
The two suspects then fled the park on Tillary Street towards Adams, Essig said.
There were at least 30 others in the park at the time, Essig said.
The teen was rushed to Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Smith’s grandfather, Kenneth Davis, told The Post at the time that he was offering a $5,000 reward for anyone who turns over the boy’s killer.
“Put that in your paper: A $5,000 reward from the grandfather,” he said.
Davis said the teen’s family – including his mother – were “falling apart” at the news of his death.
“He’s a terrific young man,” Davis said about Smith. “He helps around the house. He’s energetic. He’s just an average 15-year-old. It’s sad.”
Davis said he didn’t know why someone would do this to his grandson.
“I just hope we catch these idiots that are running around with these guns,” Davis said. “It’s just sad that these guns are flooding into the community. The police are doing everything they could but guns just keep pouring in here.“
Police have said there was no indication that Smith was a gang member.
The teen’s neighbor Mary Beloti, 64, agreed.
“Definitely not,” she told The Post in September. “I can’t wrap my head around it, I really can’t. He’s a wonderful young man. Very respectable young man. He went to school, played his music, played his video games, never bothered anybody.”
However, Beloti said locals did worry about Smith’s new batch of pals.
“He was not in trouble,” she said. “I think it was the company he kept. We were all very concerned about these boys he hung around.
“These new boys,” she added. “Not his friends, but these new boys.”
