Authorities have taken a second suspect into custody following the tragic drive-by shooting that claimed the life of an infant in Brooklyn earlier this week.
Matthew Rodriguez, 18, was captured Friday in Pennsylvania by New York Police Department investigators working alongside U.S. Marshals, according to police officials.
The alleged gunman, 21-year-old Amuri Greene, was taken into custody shortly after Wednesday’s deadly shooting that killed 7-month-old Kaori Patterson-Moore. During his Friday evening court appearance, Greene entered a not guilty plea to murder and additional charges and remains jailed without bond.
The tragic incident unfolded Wednesday afternoon when two individuals traveled down a Brooklyn street on a moped. According to court documents, Greene was positioned on the back of the vehicle when he opened fire toward a group of people gathered at a street corner, with baby Kaori sitting in her stroller nearby.
The child’s mother, Lianna Charles-Moore, described to the New York Post how she initially mistook the gunshots for fireworks. While tending to her frightened 2-year-old son, who suffered a bullet graze, she discovered her baby daughter had been struck in the head and was bleeding.
“My daughter was innocent. She didn’t deserve that,” Charles-Moore shared with the publication. She revealed that her little girl was beginning to crawl and had recently started saying “Mama.”
Court records indicate Greene admitted to investigators that he was targeting someone else in the crowd when he fired the weapon.
Greene’s legal representative, Jay Schwitzman, stated following the court proceeding that he plans to conduct “an independent and thorough investigation of the facts and circumstances of this tragic incident.”
Following the shooting, police report the moped accelerated and collided with a vehicle two blocks from the scene, throwing both riders from the bike. While Greene sustained injuries and was hospitalized under police supervision, the vehicle’s operator escaped on foot.
Officials have not yet disclosed court documents outlining Rodriguez’s specific involvement in the incident. However, investigators have not suggested they are seeking additional suspects beyond the shooter and the moped operator.
Law enforcement has not immediately provided details about any relationship between the two men or Rodriguez’s residence, and no active phone number for him was readily available. Formal charges against Rodriguez are still being processed.
Both Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch have voiced their devastation and anger regarding Kaori’s death.
“This is a terrible day in our city, a tragedy that truly shocks the conscience,” Tisch stated during Wednesday’s news conference.
