Every day the Raise the Age law stands is another day of mourning for\u00a0Julia Verona, whose 14-year-old son was fatally stabbed outside a McDonald\u2019s in Queens, allegedly by another teen.<\/p>\n
The law changed how teens are treated in New York\u2019s criminal justice system, increasing the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18, often funneling more violent cases to the state\u2019s family courts and resulting in reduced sentences when compared to adult suspects.<\/p>\n
The teens involved in the brawl that resulted in her son Julian Corniell\u2019s death<\/a> are still in the neighborhood, she said.<\/p>\n The teens involved with Julian Corniell\u2019s death are still in the neighborhood, his mother said. Brigitte Stelzer\/copyphoto<\/p>\n \u201cI have to go to therapy for that every Saturday because it makes me very angry,\u201d Verona told The Post. \u201cThey\u2019re still outside, I\u2019ve seen them with my own eyes. They still go to that McDonald\u2019s like nothing ever happened.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey should change [the law] \u2013 they should make it more serious, because these kids are out there continuing to do the same thing,\u201d Verona said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Verona, 36, said she wished the name of her son\u2019s alleged 16-year-old killer would be released, and that the rest of the teens present would face some kind of consequence.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey should change [the law] \u2013 they should make it more serious, because these kids are out there continuing to do the same thing,\u201d Julia Verona, Corniell\u2019s mother, said. Brigitte Stelzer<\/p>\n \u201cThe way that family court takes care of things\u2026it\u2019s not serious enough. They have more protections for these criminals.\u201d<\/p>\n In July 2022, 11-year-old Kyhara Tay was shot and killed<\/a> outside a nail salon in the Bronx by two teens on a moped \u2014 with then 18-year-old Omar Bojang driving and then 15-year-old Matthew Godwin pulling the trigger, authorities said.<\/p>\n The two were looking for a rival, 13-year-old gang member when they killed Kyhara, whose parents slammed the Raise the Age law as having protected Bojang, who had a previous rap sheet that included gun-related incidents. <\/p>\n 11-year-old Kyhara Tay was shot and killed outside a nail salon in the Bronx by two teens on a moped.<\/p>\n Godwin was sentenced in April<\/a> to 10 years to life behind bars, while Bojang was sentenced to 15 years <\/a>in May.<\/p>\n \u201cYou were carrying a gun as an adult, trying to kill someone as an adult, then you should be charged as an adult,\u201d Kyhara\u2019s devastated mom, Yahisha Gomez, told The Post.<\/p>\n \u201cJust a little slap on the wrist and they are coming out thinking they could commit more crimes. They know the consequences are not as severe\u2026they don\u2019t think about the family,\u201d dad Sokpini Tay said.<\/p>\n The suspect arrested in the February death of 18-year-old US Navy hopeful Juan Pena in the Bronx is just 17, authorities have said. Though tried as an adult, the case is being handled in the youth part of Bronx Criminal Court.<\/p>\n Pena\u2019s aunt, Shery Olivo, said the law must change.<\/p>\n \u201cMy nephew, Juan Pe\u00f1a, was full of dreams and about to join the U.S. Army, but his life was taken by illegal gun violence. One of the people arrested is just 17 years old,\u201d she told The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n Angellyh Yambo was caught in the crossfire when 17-year-old Jeremiah Ryan opened fire with a ghost gun, and was shot in the back. Facebook\/Gordo Manuel Yamb\u00f3<\/p>\n \u201cHow can anyone look my sister in the eyes, a mother who cries every single day for her son, and tell her that because the shooter is a minor he won\u2019t get the justice he deserves? That\u2019s not fair,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you\u2019re old enough to pick up a gun and take someone\u2019s life, you\u2019re old enough to face the full consequences as an adult.\u00a0\u2026 Families like ours deserve justice, not excuses.\u201d<\/p>\n Yanely Henriquez lost her 16-year-old daughter Angellyh Yambo on April 8, 2022, when 17-year-old Jeremiah Ryan<\/a> opened fire with a ghost gun on the street in the Bronx as University Prep Charter High School, where Yambo was a straight-A student, let out.<\/p>\n Yambo was caught in the crossfire and shot in the back. Ryan was sentenced in September 2023<\/a> to 15 years to life.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIf you commit a crime, you must be [treated as] an adult,\u201d the mom demanded. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is why these kids are doing whatever they want, because they know they are just getting a slap on their hands. If you have a gun to use, you need to be an adult and face the consequences for your actions.\u201d<\/p>\n Here are examples of teenagers allegedly killed by other teenagers so far in 2025:<\/p>\n Police at the scene where three people were shot on W44th Street near Seventh Avenue in the Times Square section of New York on August 9. Christopher Sadowski<\/p>\n Times Square shooting<\/strong><\/p>\n A 17-year-old\u00a0allegedly opened fire in Times Square<\/a> last week, striking three people \u2014 including an 18-year-old tourist from Maryland as she rode in an Uber with her siblings and parents, according to police. The bullet grazed the tourist\u2019s neck.<\/p>\n The accused Times Square gunman,\u00a0identified as Jayden Clarke, pleaded not guilty to two counts of attempted murder. Michael Nagle<\/p>\n \u201cWe heard gunshots,\u201d the teen victim\u2019s mom later told The Post. \u201cMy daughter was holding her neck. She was bleeding\u2026It\u2019s a very horrific experience.\u201d <\/p>\n The accused gunman,\u00a0identified as Jayden Clarke<\/a>, had gotten into an argument with a Citibike rider inside of the Raising Cane\u2019s restaurant on Broadway around 1 a.m. on Aug. 9, and decided to settle the beef by leaving the eatery and opening fire, according to police sources. <\/p>\n Cops recovered a .380-caliber Glock 42 from his waistband at the scene. Clarke pleaded not guilty to two counts of attempted murder, three counts of assault and reckless endangerment and weapons charges and was ordered held on $200,000 bail.<\/p>\n Angel Mendoza, 14, was hanging with friends at the Williamsbridge Oval Playground in Norwood when he was attacked and killed. family handout<\/p>\n A memorial for Angel Mendoza, in Williamsbridge Oval, Bronx, NY. J.C. Rice<\/p>\n Bronx beatdown<\/strong><\/p>\n On Aug. 5, two young teens \u2014 just 15-and 16-years-old \u2014 were arrested and charged with murder and gang assault in the vicious beating and fatal stabbing of Angel Mendoza, a 14-year-old <\/a>who was hanging with friends at the Williamsbridge Oval Playground in Norwood. <\/p>\n Cell phone video taken by the boy\u2019s suspected attackers shows the pack zeroing in on him before smashing him \u201cin the face with a Taurus 9mm pistol\u201d and then repeatedly striking and kicking him on \u201chis head, face and body,\u201d according to court documents and police sources.<\/p>\n The two teens, among four suspects arrested in Mendoza\u2019s killing, have not been identified because of their ages, and will likely be tried in the youth part of Bronx Criminal Court.<\/p>\n Andrew Ansah and Jordan Williams, both 18, were charged with the same raps in the case. They will be tried in Bronx Criminal Court. Mendoza was not in a gang<\/a> and had no previous run-ins with police, said his family, who hid his shoes to keep him home and out of trouble.<\/p>\n Stray bullet slaying<\/strong><\/p>\n 16-year-old Evette Jeffrey was shot and killed as she rode her scooter after a 14-year-old gang member allegedly opened fire near a Morrisania schoolyard, authorities said. Robert Miller<\/p>\n Police officers responding to the scene were they found Evette Jeffrey unconscious and unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the head. Kyle Mazza\/NurPhoto\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n A 14-year-old gang member <\/a>allegedly opened fire near a Morrisania schoolyard around 5 p.m. on May 12 \u2014 killing 16-year-old Evette Jeffrey as she rode her scooter, authorities said. <\/p>\n The babyfaced gunman is believed to have fired his weapon after a fistfight broke out between his friends and rival gangbangers as they left the Bronx playground at 800 Home Street. <\/p>\n Evette had celebrated her first anniversary with her boyfriend, also 16, with a date at a Chinese buffet, relatives said. The young couple were on their way home when the gunshots rang out, with a bullet striking her in the head.<\/p>\n Her accused killer, who authorities said had already racked up a previous assault charge on his rap sheet, pleaded not guilty to a second-degree murder charge and was ordered held without bail<\/a>. <\/p>\n Evette\u2019s grandmother told The Post she would \u201cnever forgive\u201d the alleged teen killer<\/a>. <\/p>\n Corniell was stabbed outside a McDonald\u2019s in Queens, allegedly by another teen. James Messerschmidt<\/p>\n \u201cI hold your family responsible because they should be watching you,\u201d she sobbed.\u00a0<\/p>\n McDonald\u2019s stabbing<\/strong><\/p>\n An after school brawl among a large group of teens on Valentine\u2019s Day ended in tragedy in Sunnyside, when Julian Corniell, 14, was fatally stabbed at a McDonald\u2019s on Queens Boulevard.<\/p>\n Nyheem Wright was killed in front of his twin brother in a parking lot. Facebook<\/p>\n A 16-year-old was charged with murder<\/a> for allegedly whipping out a knife and plunging it into the left side of Corniell\u2019s torso. The boy collapsed and later died at Weill Cornell Medical Center, while his alleged killer was held without bail in March.<\/p>\n