June 6, 2016

Breanna Edwards

New York City police say they have no solid evidence to support the claim that a black teen was being chased by a mostly white crew shouting racial slurs before he collapsed and died of an apparent asthma attack, the Associated Press reports.

According to Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce, the death of 16-year-old Dayshen McKenzie was gang-related and didn’t appear to be a hate crime.

On Friday the New York Daily News published an article featuring former Officer Diane Fatigati, who claimed that she saw the mostly white crew chasing Dayshen and his friends and calling them the n-word.

Police, however, are now saying that Dayshen was part of a mixed-race group that had gathered to watch a gang-related, “preplanned” fight. He and others, they maintain, ran away after someone claimed to have a gun. The teen, who had asthma and a heart condition, ultimately collapsed and died in the aftermath.

NYPD: Staten Island Teen’s Death Was Not a Hate Crime