Who was Nyheem Wright? Mom of Brooklyn teen, 17, stabbed by gang in front of his twin seeks justice
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK: A 17-year-old teenager, who was stabbed by gang members earlier this week, succumbed to his injuries on Saturday, January 21. His devasted mother has demanded justice and that those responsible be brought to book. Nyheem Wright died at the Maimonides Medical Center of a collapsed lung and a ruptured vein on Saturday afternoon, school authorities reportedly revealed. Police have not arrested anyone so far.
According to the New York Post, six teenage boys chased Wright in Coney Island after school on Friday, January 20. After they caught up with him around 3.20 pm local time in the Rite Aid parking lot on Mermaid Avenue, they grievously stabbed him in the torso.
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Schools Chancellor David Banks said on Twitter, “I spoke with the young man’s principal this evening, who described him as a joyful leader. He was on the verge of graduation, and was a hard worker who took an active role in leading other young people at his school.”
(2 of 3) I spoke with the young man’s principal this evening, who described him as a joyful leader. He was on the verge of graduation, and was a hard worker who took an active role in leading other young people at his school.
— Chancellor David C. Banks (@DOEChancellor) January 22, 2023
In another tweet, he said, "This week our students repeatedly suffered from senseless acts of violence, and tonight we mourn an utterly tragic loss of life."
(1 of 3) This week our students repeatedly suffered from senseless acts of violence, and tonight we mourn an utterly tragic loss of life.
— Chancellor David C. Banks (@DOEChancellor) January 22, 2023
Nyheem Wright's mother demands justice
Wright's mother, Simone Brooks, spoke about the tragedy to the New York Post on Sunday, January 22. She demanded justice from the "little punks" who were responsible for her son's death. “I want justice for him. These ones nowadays, they all want to pull weapons. They don’t want to fight it out because they’re just little punks. We want justice for my son Nyheem because he did not deserve this, and we are not OK," she said.
Brooks said that Wright's twin, Raheem, told her about what took place. "They was fighting with the boys, and he said there were six of them. One of them pulled out a knife,” she said, adding that Raheem “stayed with his twin brother the whole time." "I was on the phone with him … and when the ambulance came, they kept saying, ‘He’s losing a lot of blood, he’s losing a lot of blood!'" she said.
Stating that a major artery was severed in the attack, Brooks said, "There was nothing anyone could have done because the blood would just drain right out. Platelets, plasma — it just wouldn’t clot. And after a while, they were monitoring his blood pressure, and it just gets so low, and they said Nobody can live like this, and his heart is going to stop," adding, “They told me, ‘Call your family, You can have them all up here.'"
According to Brooks, he was not involved in any gang and was a bright student of his class and everybody loved him. The mother-of-nine said, “Raheem, he’s trying to be strong for me. But I’m looking at his Snapchat posts, and he’s like, ‘I’m not OK.' He’s like, ‘I will never be OK.'"
Brooks said that the principal of the high school that Wright attended, K728 Liberation Diploma Plus High School, stayed with family on Friday, during the tragic incident.