Teen, 19, busted for murder as part of NYC gang feud that left hoopster Jesse Parrilla dead, burned
A teenager was busted for a May murder that sources say sparked a deadly street war –which culminated with the grisly slayings of an innocent college basketball player and his female pal.
Zymir Humphrey, 18, allegedly gunned down 39-year-old Down the Hill gang member Brandon Atkinson on May 15 as revenge after Atkinson or an associate mugged Nikki Huang, 22, police sources said.
Atkinson’s murder set off a string of gang shootings that ended with Huang and ex-college hoopster Jesse Parrilla found shot to death and burned beyond recognition inside a car at a Bronx park, according to sources.
Humphrey, who is being held without bail, was extradited to the Big Apple Tuesday on second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon charges, according to a Manhattan Supreme Court indictment.
He was nabbed for the shooting in Martinsburg, West Virginia on July 19, authorities and sources said.
The roots of the gang clash were set when Huang was allegedly mugged, complaining to friends in the Up the Hill Crew that a robber had made off with her purse, sources said. Humphrey is “linked” to Huang but it’s not clear if he was affiliated with Up the Hill or any other gang, sources said.
When Aktinson was killed, three more people were shot within hours, in two separate shootings on the Lower East Side and Queens. The Down the Hill crew allegedly shot two suspected Up the Hill members on Pike Street.
Down the Hill members then allegedly snatched Huang while she was hanging out with Parrilla and forced her at gunpoint to lure a friend of her out of his house in Maspeth, Queens. When the friend came out, he was also shot, sources said.
Huang and Parrilla were driven to The Bronx hours later and executed, with their car left torched. Parrilla was not connected to the gang feud and was just friends with Huang, sources said.
“Right now it looks like he was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” one Manhattan cop told The Post. “He has no criminal record. It looks like he was just hanging out with Nikki.”
They were found inside the burning car around 4:20 a.m. May 16 on Shore Road near the Pelham Split Rock Golf Course, authorities said.
Parrilla – who played basketball for one year at Genesee Community College – died of gunshot wounds to the head and chest, while his friend was shot in the head and neck. Both suffered extensive burns to their bodies.
Late last month, cops said they were seeking 30-year-old Jahmel Sanders and 34-year-old Steven Santiago for questioning in the murders.
Police released surveillance photos and old mugshots depicting Sanders and Santiago, although neither man has been named a suspect in the case yet.
No arrests had been made in connection to that case by Wednesday, cops said.
Additional reporting by Tina Moore
