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28 March 2024

Killing of NYC toddler: Alleged shooter pleads not guilty

Daquan Breland is led out of Magistrate Rick Cronauers office Friday, Sept. 6, 2013 in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Daquan Breland, 23, and Daquan Wright, 19, were arrested in northeastern Pennsylvania on Friday in connection with the weekend shooting death of a toddler in a stroller in New York City. (AP)

Published
By AP

A man who allegedly shot a toddler to death in his stroller on a Brooklyn street is being held without bail on a charge of second-degree murder.

Twenty-three-year-old Daquan Breland pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Saturday. Prosecutors say he fatally shot 16-month-old Antiq (An-TEEK') Hennis on Sept. 1.

Breland and 19-year-old Daquan Wright were arrested in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. on Friday and returned to New York. Wright was awaiting arraignment.

Authorities say Antiq's father was pushing him in a stroller while crossing a street in the Brownsville neighborhood when shots were fired. The child was struck on the left side of his face and later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Police believe the boy's father was the intended target.

It wasn't clear if either suspect had an attorney.

A 23-year-old man has been held without bail Saturday on a charge of second-degree murder.

It wasn't clear if either suspect had an attorney. Wright is awaiting arraignment.

Police believe the child's father was the intended target, and the shooting may have been gang-related.

Anthony Hennis, 21, had just picked up Antiq at the home of the baby's mother, Cherise Miller, to take him to visit Hennis' grandmother, police said. Hennis put the boy in the stroller and was pushing him across the street when four shots were fired, according to police.

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the motive for the shooting is still unclear and the boy's father was not cooperating with the investigation.

Witnesses have said the men were standing in the street when Wright handed the gun to Breland, who they allege pulled the trigger. The gun has not been recovered.

On Friday evening, hundreds attended a funeral for Antiq held at the Grace Funeral Chapel in Ozone Park in Queens.