A teenager died from an asthma attack as he reportedly fled a grang of racist thugs who were heard shouting: "I’m gonna shoot you n*****."
Dayshen McKenzie, 16, ran for his life when he fled from what witnesses have described as a predominantly white gang in Staten Island, New York.
Ex-NYPD police officer and responder Dian Fatigati rushed to the aid of Mr McKenzie but could not resuscitate him.
She told the New York Daily News: “They were chasing him – that’s a crime. You’re hunting him because they’re black… You’re calling them a n*****."
According Ms Fatigati, the group who chased the aspiring rapper and his friends last Friday consisted of young white males and one Hispanic male.
Recounting Mr McKenzie’s death, she added: “The kids were throwing water on him. I came out and said ‘What’s going on’. They said, ‘My brother’s dead, my brother’s dead. He’s dying, he’s dying’."
No arrests have been made and no charges have been filed in the week since the incident.
Mr McKenzie’s, mum, Tisha Richardson told the New York Daily News that her son had forgotten to take his inhaler with him when he headed out with six of his friends.
The 43 year-old added: “The sadness turns to anger. I want justice for him. Somebody should be held accountable.
“He was such a good kid. He would walk up to me and say, ‘Can I get a hug?’
“He was just that kind of kid. Anything he wanted to do, he would do.
“I never let him spend a night outside of the house because I was so scared if he had an asthma attack, they wouldn’t know what to do.
“So I wouldn’t allow him to spend the night out, and it still ended up taking his life.”
Ms Richardson added that her son was an aspiring comedian, promoter, rapper, and basketball player. Just four days before his death her released a hip-hop video on YouTube.
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