Distressing video shows chaos on subway as 15-year-old Jayjon Burnett is shot and killed
Here is proof of the terrifying reality of subway violence.
Disturbing new video obtained by The Post shows the wild melee on the A train in Far Rockaway last week as a 15-year-old boy was shot to death, allegedly by another teen.
The shaky 58-second video shows two groups of teens fighting on Oct. 14 and then the sudden pop of gunfire, followed by screams from horrified onlookers as they tug on Jayjon Burnett’s apparently lifeless body on the floor of the subway car.
The video leaves unanswered how two people — both Burnett and Keyondre Russell, who was arrested in the shooting — ended up wounded with apparently just one bullet fired.
Burnett’s death was among nine homicides in the subway system this year, topping the eight in 2021, which was a 25-year high.
The video starts as one boy, possibly Burnett, says to a girl in a two-piece red tracksuit, “I know who used to be your boyfriend. All that. All that. My girlfriend right here.”
A girl says “What happened?” and yet another girl chimes in, asking “Wait, what happened? What’s the word?”
Russell, who is wearing a face mask, can be seen standing behind the girl in the tracksuit, according to a source who knows the 18-year-old.
That girl starts slugging another rider as the teens look on with one yelling “Take your f–king hat off. Take your f–king hat off.”
Behind the brawling girl, another group of teens appears to get into a scuffle in the corner of the mostly empty car.
Then one boy raises his arm and the sound of a gunshot rings out. Burnett, who police said was shot in the chest, stumbles forward and falls face down on the floor of the car.
Russell’s lawyer, who viewed the video, said his client was among the group in the corner but was sitting on the subway bench with other teens standing over him.
The video footage then gets jumbled as whomever is filming appears to move away from the gunfire. A male voice can be heard asking “Why you got to do that?” as a girl screams “JJ, get the f–k up! Get the f–k up!” to the mortally wounded Burnett.
Someone drags Burnett, who is wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black and white sneakers, to the center of the car and lifts him by the shoulders, showing his lifeless looking face.
A good Samaritan pulled Burnett off the train at the Mott Avenue/Far Rockaway subway station, police said.
Police arrested Russell the next day. He was intially charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
Police confirmed that Russell had a gunshot wound to his thigh when he was busted, but the NYPD could not say whether it was connected to the subway shooting.
Russell’s lawyer, Peter St. George Davis, maintains his client did not have a gun and didn’t shoot Burnett. “My client is a victim — not only a victim being jumped, but of a gunshot,” he contended in court, saying a bullet possibly passed through Russell’s leg and hit Burnett.
Russell was treated at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway and released, Davis said.
But a prosecutor called the slaying “a gang-related incident,” saying Russell was picked out in two lineups and “multiple identification procedures.” He was sent to jail without bail.
A grand jury Friday failed to indict Russell on the murder charge.
The teens lived about a mile apart in Far Rockaway although it’s unclear if they knew one another.
Burnett’s father described his son as a straight-A student. His mom posted on a GoFundMe page that Thursday would have been his 16th birthday and that they were saying their final good-byes Friday.
Russell, who does not have a record, dropped out of school after 10th grade and lived with his mother and siblings, according to his lawyer.
Queens DA Melinda Katz said in a statement, “At a bare minimum, we in New York City have a right to use our subways and have the ability to get home safely to our families.”
The NYPD said the investigation into the shooting was “active and ongoing.”
“Unfortunately, the scene in that horrific video plays out way too often in New York City. Many young people act out the smallest disagreements with mindless violence,” said City Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens.). “We must address this behavior before this city becomes unlivable.”
