STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The 18-year-old New Brighton resident accused of shooting and critically wounding a victim outside a Tompkinsville deli on Tuesday was arraigned Friday on attempted murder and other charges.
Naquan Brooks shot a 22-year-old man in the head just after 5:50 p.m. in front of 35 Victory Blvd., alleges a criminal complaint.
A bullet is lodged in the victim’s head, and there is “minimal brain activity,” the complaint said.
While the suspect and the victim knew each other, detectives had not yet pinpointed a motive, a source with knowledge of the investigation previously told the Advance/SILive.com.
However, the store owner said Brooks, who frequents Elegant Deli, was arguing with someone on the phone at the location before stepping outside and shooting the victim.
It is unclear what the verbal dispute was about, the owner added.
Police said a revolver was recovered at the scene.
At an anti-gun-violence rally on Thursday, several individuals identified the victim as Doraymus Robinson of South Beach.
The victim had been a part of the Arches program, a group-mentoring program that helps young adults on probation overcome the attitudes and behaviors that led to past criminal activity.
Robinson had been looking forward to starting a new job he had secured through the program, his mentors said.
“He wanted to change his life around,” a former mentor said. “He got tired of his old life and was embarking on a new one. We were there with him every step of the way. He learned from his mistakes. I’m hurt that he is in this situation. He found himself and was ready to be a contributor in the community.”
Robinson’s family is devastated over the shooting, he said.
Nasir and Marcel, 17-year-olds from New Dorp, knew Robinson and were in a group with him in the Arches program.
They said he’s a good person, funny and very sarcastic.
“I knew him for about three-four weeks [through the program],’’ Marcel said. “I finished the program, and I wanted to come visit him, and they told me he had been shot.”
Nasir said he’d been talking to Robinson earlier in the week before the incident, checking up on him to see how he was doing.
“It was crazy to find what happened to him,” he said.
Besides attempted murder, Brooks is charged with assault and criminal weapon possession.
He is being held without bail and is next scheduled to appear in Criminal Court on Tuesday.
Sharon Maquita Moody, his lawyer, declined comment on the case.
Online state court records show Brooks also has a drug case pending in Criminal Court stemming from an arrest on April 19.