[#BLM] Heartbreaking: Black Teen Dies After Running From Group Yelling ‘I’m Gonna Shoot You N****r!’
One Black teen took his last breath running from a group of white men toting a gun and shouting racial slurs.
Dayshen McKenzie, pictured above, suffered a fatal asthma attack in Staten Island, New York, on Friday after witnesses said he was chased by a racist group of mostly white men. The altercation was reportedly over a girl.
“I got a gun! I’m gonna shoot you n****r!” one of the assailants reportedly said, according to witness Diane Fatigati, an ex-NYPD officer and 9/11 responder, who rushed to the teen’s aid as he was dying.
She reported seeing a group made up of white men and one Hispanic male chasing the 16-year-old and his friends. They were in cars with Pennsylvania plates as they threatened and pursued McKenzie and his friends, who were on foot running and ducking behind and in between houses.
While Fatigati tried to revive McKenzie after he stopped breathing, she was unable to save him.
“To me, it’s murder,” she said. “They were chasing him — that’s a crime. You’re hunting them because they’re Black. … You’re calling them a n****r.”
McKenzie’s friends did not mention the racial slur to authorities during initial interviews, but they’re expected to speak with police again.
“The sadness turns to anger,” said Tisha Richardson, McKenzie’s mother. “I want justice for him. Somebody should be held accountable.”