Woman fatally shot just days after she demanded neighbors stop shooting fireworks near kids

A Brooklyn woman who demanded her neighbors stop shooting fireworks near children on the Fourth of July was allegedly targeted and killed for that demand days later, her grieving family told the Daily News.

Shatavia Walls, 33, was riddled with bullets in the courtyard of the Pink Houses in East New York on July 7, and died of her wounds Friday.

“I had seen her on the floor and she was laying there, and she said to me“Ma I don’t think I’m going to make it,” her grief-stricken mother, Helen Testagrose, told The News. “She was on the floor. She was talking to me. She was telling me who shot her, saying it was the same guy from the other day.”

Police investigate a double shooting in a courtyard of the NYCHA Pink Houses on Loring Avenue in Brooklyn, New York on Tuesday, July 7.
Police investigate a double shooting in a courtyard of the NYCHA Pink Houses on Loring Avenue in Brooklyn, New York on Tuesday, July 7. (Gardiner Anderson)

That “guy,” her mother said, got into a fight with her on July 4, after she told one of his buddies to stop lighting fireworks in the housing development’s courtyard.

“The kids were playing right there in the park. And they were shooting near the kids. And the little girl was hysterical. That’s why she asked them to stop.” her mother said.

Testagrose believes the men shooting fireworks were part of a gang, and that they called for backup, but Walls didn’t back down and fought them off, even after the gunman started firing off shots.

Police investigate a double shooting in a courtyard of the NYCHA Pink Houses on Loring Avenue in Brooklyn, New York on Tuesday, July 7.
Police investigate a double shooting in a courtyard of the NYCHA Pink Houses on Loring Avenue in Brooklyn, New York on Tuesday, July 7. (Gardiner Anderson)

“She was tussling with him before he pulled it out,” said her best friend, Erica Lee, 33. “She seen him reaching for the gun and they was tussling for the gun. When they finally broke off, he shot one up but ran.”

Testagrose said she knows who shot her daughter. Police have made no arrests in the case.

“If they were regular boys, it probably wouldn’t have been like that, but it turned out they were a gang,” she said.

Police investigate a double shooting in a courtyard of the NYCHA Pink Houses on Loring Avenue in Brooklyn, New York on Tuesday, July 7.
Police investigate a double shooting in a courtyard of the NYCHA Pink Houses on Loring Avenue in Brooklyn, New York on Tuesday, July 7. (Gardiner Anderson)

Walls had her own alleged gang ties. In 2018, she and 11 reputed members of the “Mac Baller Brims,” a Bloods offshoot, were busted in a federal takedown. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute narcotics last year, and was awaiting sentencing.

Federal authorities didn’t call her a member of the gang, but accused her longtime boyfriend, Kevin St. Hill, of being a member. According to federal documents, Wallls brought a gun down from the Pink Houses for St. Hill, who intended, but never did use it to shoot a group of rivals.

Her mother downplayed the charges against her Sunday, telling The News: “She was never in the gang. It was her husband that got arrested. Whatever her husband is, she doesn’t know anything about that.” He’s been in jail for the last three years.”

A candle memorial for Shatavia Walls is pictured near her home on Sunday, July 19.
A candle memorial for Shatavia Walls is pictured near her home on Sunday, July 19. (Catherina Gioino)

Police sources said cops were investigating the dispute over fireworks as a possible motive for the shooting, but the killing remained under investigation Sunday night.

Walls’ mom and best friend described her as a tough but lovable woman who took the children in the housing development under her wings and loved to cook.

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