Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced on Monday, Sept. 11, that a Bronx man was sentenced to 13 years in prison for a gang-related shooting that killed a 17-year-old boy in a crowd that had gathered for the filming of a rap music video in a McDonald’s parking lot.

 

In the context of the announcement, Clark said, “Rival gang members showed up at the filming of a music video at a McDonald’s and exchanged gunfire. Five people were shot, including a 17-year-old boy who died from his wounds. The defendant fired the fatal shot.” She added, “This happened in 2021 as we saw the most shootings in 25 years, and more teens were ensnared in gun violence. We remain resolute in making our streets safer and steering our youth from gang culture.”

 

Clark said the defendant, Luis Cruz, 21, of East 183rd Street in Fordham Heights was sentenced to 13 years in prison and five years post-release supervision by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Ralph Fabrizio. He pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter on May 30.

 

According to the investigation, and as reported at the time, on May 15, 2021, at about 9 p.m., Cruz, then 18, and a member of the ATR Trinitarios gang, exchanged gunfire with an opposition gang, the Shooting Boys, in the McDonald’s restaurant parking lot at Clay Avenue and Belmont Street in Claremont, where a crowd had gathered for the rap music video. Cruz fired a single shot from a .380-caliber pistol and Armanis Valdez, 17, was shot in the chest and died.

 

The case was prosecuted by Senior Homicide Counsel Morgan Dolan under the supervision of Christine Scaccia, chief of the Homicide Bureau, and under the overall supervision of James Brennan, deputy chief of the Trial Division, and Theresa Gottlieb, chief of the Trial Division.

 

Clark thanked Assistant District Attorney Katerina Kurteva of Trial Bureau 60 for her assistance with the case and NYPD Detectives Connor Walsh of the 44th Precinct, Robert Cintron of Bronx Homicide, Police Officers Thomas Accomando of the 46th Precinct, and Ramon Mejia of the 44th Precinct for their work in the investigation also.