At a court hearing on Friday, a 16-year-old boy from Syracuse was named as one of the three men accused of killing Brexialee Torres-Ortiz, who was 11.
Court records say that the teen’s name is Deckyse Bridges. He is accused of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and illegally having a gun.
Thursday, the teen was put in jail.
The charges were filed just a few hours after police said they had arrested Dahviere R. Griswold, 20, of Syracuse and Rasean V. Patterson, 18, of Syracuse, in connection with the shooting death of Brexialee last week in Syracuse.
The teen stood before City Court Judge Vanessa E. Bogan to be charged. His lawyer, Marsha Hunt, asked that reporters leave the courtroom because of her client’s age.
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The judge didn’t get rid of the reporters, but he did agree to leave out the teen’s name. She told the prosecutors not to call him by his name in court. Instead, they were to call him by his initials, D.B.
A reporter from Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard asked to speak to the judge because he didn’t agree with the judge’s order. Hunt said reporters couldn’t be heard in court, but Bogan said he would listen to the request.
Syracuse.com asked for the hearing to be put off so that its lawyer could make its case.
Bogan said no to that. She instead said that the teen could send her a written argument before the next court date on February 1. Bogan told Senior Assistant District Attorney Anthony Mangovski that his office couldn’t give Bridges’ name to the news media.
Mangovski said he wasn’t sure if the court could stop them from talking. Bogan said that she did have the power to do that.
District Attorney William Fitzpatrick later told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard that he doesn’t think Bogan can stop them from releasing the name, but he would respect her wishes.
When asked to say something outside of the courtroom, Hunt refused.
Brexialee was shot and killed on Oakwood Avenue on January 16 at 7:45 p.m. as she walked home from a store where she bought a gallon of milk. The store was less than a block from her house. She was shot twice, and even though police, first responders and hospital staff tried to save her life, she died from her injuries.
She was in the sixth grade at Blodgett Middle School. She was on the honor roll and loved to dance.
Jessa Martin is the author of Nogmagazine, A professional in writing by day, and novelist by night, she received her bachelor of arts in film from Howard University and her master of arts in media studies from the New School. A Brooklyn native, she is a lover of naps, cookie dough, and beaches, currently residing in the borough she loves, most likely multitasking.