Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced Jan. 25 that a Manhattan man was sentenced to five years in prison after a jury convicted him of weapon possession for displaying a loaded gun in a Marble Hill playground.

 

“The defendant threatened the safety of the community, striking fear in people who use the Marble Hill Playground as a place to take their family,” Clark said. “The jury in this case was able to review the evidence and came back with a guilty verdict. We are sending a clear message that we are not tolerating gun violence in the Bronx.”

 

She said the defendant, Charles Cherry, 34, of Riverside Drive, Manhattan was sentenced to five years in prison and five years post release supervision by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Steven Hornstein. The defendant was found guilty of one count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon on Nov. 15, 2022, after a jury trial.

 

 According to the investigation, on Aug. 28, 2020, the defendant was arguing with another man at the Marble Hill Playground. Cherry left but later returned and pointed the gun at the other individual. The NYPD was notified about the altercation and an officer arrived at the playground and pursued Cherry, who ran behind a building at 5250 Broadway.

 

At the location, police recovered a loaded 9-mm pistol, which had DNA on it belonging to Cherry. Nearby surveillance video from a storage facility also captured Cherry on camera.

 

In March 2021, Norwood News reported that three men were sought by police following a daylight shooting in front of a playground in Morris Heights. Police said that on Saturday, May 22, 2021, at around 3.42 p.m., the three were walking northbound on University Avenue in front of Morton Place playground, which was occupied at the time by numerous children and their guardians.

 

As two other men exited the basketball court, two of three sought produced guns and fired at least nine gunshots in the direction of the two other men. The three suspects then fled on foot, southbound, on University Avenue. There were no injuries reported following the incident.

 

Also in March 2021, police asked for the public’s help identifying the vehicle and individuals seen in the accompanying photo in connection to another Bronx playground shooting. They said on Friday, March 12, 2021, at around 5.36 p.m. at Magenta Playground (Olinville Avenue and Rosewood Street) in Olinville, near Gun Hill Houses, an individual discharged several rounds from a gun into a crowd inside the playground.

 

The shooter fled southbound on Olinville Road on a scooter driven by a second person. The gunfire caused damage to three parked and unoccupied vehicles. There were no injuries reported following the shooting.

 

The case of the Marble Hill playground shooting was prosecuted by assistant district attorney, Alessandra Ambrosi, and senior investigative assistant district attorney, Kevin Griffin, of the special investigations bureau (SBU), under the supervision of Howard Feldberg, deputy chief of the SBU, Craig Cecchini, chief of the SBU, and under the overall supervision of Denise Kodjo, deputy chief of the investigations division, and Wanda Perez-Maldonado, chief of the investigations division.

Clark thanked trial preparation assistant, Emily Lugo Rosario, of the SBU, NYPD Officer Michael Johnson of the 50^th Precinct, NYPD Detective James Haskell of the NYPD police laboratory, Detective Luke Maddock of the violent crime squad, Officer Christopher Multari from the evidence collection team and Elizabeth Valle, criminalist with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for their assistance in the case.

 

In addition, Clark thanked former NYPD Officers:  Officer Brandon Day of the Westchester Police Department and Officer Nicholas Kraft of the Blooming Grove NY Police Department.