A 13-year-old boy, Sanjay Griffith Samuel, has died days after being shot in the head while walking to school in Cambria Heights, Queens. The tragic incident occurred around 8:30 AM on September 22.
According to his cousin, Martina Johnson, Sanjay was on his way to school when an unidentified gunman on a motorcycle opened fire near a Dunkin’ Donuts on Linden Boulevard. Sanjay, who had Guyanese heritage, was rushed to the hospital and placed on life support. However, doctors reported no brain activity from the time of his admission, and he succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday.
“We were hoping for a miracle, but there was no brain activity. They didn’t see that they could do anything for him,” Johnson told the News Room.
Sanjay had recently started at a new school just two weeks prior to the shooting and was set to turn 14 next month. His family plans to hold his funeral on his birthday.
Investigations are ongoing to determine if Sanjay was the intended target of the attack, and no arrests have been made yet. He was the youngest child of his mother, a Guyanese-born New Yorker.
Sanjay was remembered as a fun-loving boy who enjoyed dancing and dreamed of becoming a basketball player. In a final act of kindness, his family has decided to donate his organs to help others in need.
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