13-year-old charged with murder in Bronx killing of bystander

Police have charged a 13-year-old boy with murder and other offenses, alleging he shot two people in the Bronx — killing one man and injuring a woman. Neither was his intended target, officials said.

The NYPD said officers took the boy into custody Tuesday afternoon in the same Bronx precinct where 28-year-old Yonkers resident Daoud Marji was killed on April 23. The teen has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder as well as first-degree manslaughter and criminal firearm use.

Officials have not named him because he is a minor, and attorney information for him was not immediately available. His arraignment was still pending early Wednesday afternoon, according to the Bronx district attorney's office.

Police found Marji with a gunshot wound to his head on University Avenue near West Kingsbridge Road in Kingsbridge Heights around 5 p.m., officials said. He was pronounced dead after being transported to Saint Barnabas Hospital in critical condition.

A 33-year-old woman who was shot in her left hip in the incident went to Woodhull Hospital in stable condition, police said.

Marji’s family said he grew up in Yonkers after immigrating from Jordan, ABC7 and the New York Post reported.

The arrest comes amid a string of local shootings by teens, according to the NYPD. Last week, police arrested a 15-year-old boy on a murder charge, alleging he shot and killed a 30-year-old man in the Bronx earlier this month. They also arrested and charged a 19-year-old man with attempted murder and weapons possession in a recent East Harlem shooting that critically injured a 17-year-old boy. These arrests followed those of two boys, ages 13 and 14, who were charged in the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Bronx resident Evette Jeffrey this month.

NYPD data shows shootings so far this year were down about 19% as of May 25, compared to the same period last year. Homicides had decreased about 29%, to 107 from 150 by the same point in 2024.

This is a developing story based on preliminary information from police and has been updated with additional information.