Angellyh Yambo was a 16-year-old high school student with dreams of becoming a doctor when she was shot and killed as she walked home from school with friends in Mott Haven on April 8, 2022. On Tuesday, Jan. 24, on what would have been Angellyh’s 17th birthday, her family and friends gathered at her mausoleum in Woodlawn cemetery to mark the official launch of The Angellyh Yambo Foundation.

 

During the emotional event, different colored balloons were released into the air marking the exact moment of her birth, 17 years earlier. Later, the family confirmed that the foundation’s website was live and talked about their hopes for what it could achieve in Angellyh’s memory.

 

The press release announcing the foundation read, “We wish to turn our personal tragedy into something positive.” On Saturday, Feb. 18, Norwood News spoke with Yambo’s aunt, Mary Hernandez, founder and CEO of the foundation, and Lissette Camargo, another aunt to Angellyh, who is the foundation’s program director. “We came together as a family regarding the foundation and we want to bring change in The Bronx, along with helping the youth, our future leaders,” Hernandez said.

Angellyh’s family said through the foundation, they hope to create a financial literacy program, an art program, and an anti-bullying program in local schools. They also hope to use it to address the needs of The Bronx, supporting anti-gun violence programs and providing support to gun violence victims. Hernandez said Angellyh’s mom, Yanely Henriquez, is also involved with the foundation and though she is devastated by her daughter’s loss, she said it has helped in some ways to keep her busy.

 

The family is currently working with the staff of Angellyh’s former school, University Prep Charter High School, where they plan to host an anti-bullying program as well as parent and children’s workshops. As reported, students at the school held “A March for Angellyh” last year during Gun Violence Awareness Month, along with many other rallies held across the borough and City.

 

Many were seen holding signs with images of Angellyh during the rally and a few of the students even spoke, reading out statements they had written. They talked of their own fears of being shot, whether in the streets or at school, and how they were tired of being afraid.

 

For her part, Camargo said of the foundation’s plans, “Since the pandemic, it’s been very hard for the youth, even children, to adjust to our new society. A lot of schools have done away with after school programs at no cost.” She added, “The foundation and the programs will be a very good resource for them.”

 

FAMILY AND FRIENDS of Angellyh Yambo gather at Woodlawn Cemetery on what would have been her 17th birthday on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, to launch The Angellyh Yambo Foundation. Video courtesy of Mary Hernandez

As reported, a Bronx teenager was charged with the murder of the 16-year-old last April and the wounding of two other students who were also shot during the incident. Despite such violent tragedies such as the one which resulted in Angellyh’s death, gun crime has been gradually dropping in New York City and in The Bronx, compared to what it had been in 2021. So far this year, there have been 41 shooting victims compared to 62 at the same point in 2022. Meanwhile, there have been 32 shooting incidents to date this year compared to 57 at the same point last year.

 

In February 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden visited New York to discuss with local elected officials how best to combat the proliferation of ghost guns across the country. Ghost guns are firearms that can be purchased online in parts and later assembled. As reported, in April 2022, a Norwood man was sentenced to two years for possession of ghost guns in his home. Mayor Eric Adams had called, earlier that year, for the cancellation of the country’s largest ghost gun supplier.

 

Later in 2022, landmark gun legislation was either introduced or passed at nearly every level of government in the wake of a series of  mass shootings, across the country, including in Buffalo, NY, but not without challenges to the laws by Republicans. On June 6, New York State passed a comprehensive 10-bill package closing critical gun law loopholes exposed in the Buffalo and Uvalde mass shootings. Legislation S.9458/A.10503 bars the purchase of semi-automatic rifles by anyone under 21 by requiring a license. Legislation S.9407-B/A.10497 prohibits the purchase of body armor with the exception of those in specified professions.

 

Deputy Mayor Phil Banks, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell, FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh and other city officials hold a press conference on Feb. 24, 2023 to discuss public safety. Video courtesy of the City of New York via YouTube.

 

Legislation S.9113-A./A.10502 expands the list of people who can file Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) and requires law enforcement to file ERPOs under a specified set of circumstances. The package also strengthens crime reporting; closing “other gun” loopholes; requires the microstamping of new semi-automatic pistols; eliminates grandfathering of high-capacity feeding devices; and requires social media companies to improve the response to and reporting of hateful content.

 

Two days later, on June 8, federal legislators in the House of Representatives voted 223 to 204 in what has been called an unprecedented bipartisan bill, the “Protecting our Kids Act,” which, among other measures, if it passes in the U.S. Senate, will also raise the age to buy semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21, and will restrict the sale of large-capacity ammunition magazines. It was received in the U.S. Senate on June 9, 2022.

 

Norwood News readers later weighed in on whether they believed the new laws would have any impact on gun violence in The Bronx. On Feb. 24, this year, Deputy Mayor Phil Banks, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell, FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh and other city officials held a press conference to discuss public safety in New York City. The press conference can be watched above.

According to her family, Angellyh was born and raised at the Fort Independence Houses on Bailey Avenue in Kingsbridge Heights and later moved to Melrose with her mother. Throughout her childhood and teens, she continued to return to Fort Independence Houses, as both her grandparents still live in the complex.

 

Camargo explained, “She did grow up in the Bronx, but she grew up to parents that were very much involved with her and always had a channel of communication.” She added, “We want that to be known that even though she grew up in The Bronx, with so much happening around her, she didn’t let that affect her development.”

 

Having recently visited University Prep Charter High School to discuss the foundation’s new programs, Hernandez said, “These are the kids we want to help,” adding that the foundation and website are now, “an extension of her life.”

For more information on the foundation or to make a tax-deductible donation, visit www.angellyhyambofoundation.org.

 

A person arrested and charged with a crime is deemed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.