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14 Alleged ‘Babiiez’ Gang Members Charged in Indictment That Includes 11 Shootings

The Brooklyn District Attorney announced the charges on Thursday
gun, gun violence
Photo: St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office/Wikimedia.

Fourteen alleged members of the Babiiez street gang, all aged between 16 and 21, have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, weapons possession and other charges related to 11 shootings.

The 11 shootings resulted in eight victims, six of whom were alleged rival gang members and two men who were not rivals, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said Thursday.

Gonzalez, who announced the 81-count indictment with NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea, said the indictment was the result of a long-term investigation into violence allegedly committed by members and associates of the Insane Crip Gangsta (ICG) street gang, which is mostly based in the area covered by the 70th Precinct.

The investigation specifically focused on a subset of ICG called the Babiiez, named for younger ICG gang members who ranged in age from 15 to 21 years old.

The ICG/Babiiez territory covers the Flatbush area, specifically East 21st Street and the buildings located at 131-141 East 21st Street, Gonzalez said. The attached six-story red brick apartment buildings located on the east side of East 21st Street between Church and Caton Avenue are allegedly referred to as "The Castle" and are believed to be the gang's hub.

Between May 2019 and today, the Babiiez and members of the affiliated Bergen Fam gang allegedly committed multiple shootings and acts of violence against rival gang members or within rival gang territory to maintain dominance and retaliate against taunts and teasing on social media over the death of a former ICG member.

"It is disturbing that young people in our communities are engaged in the type of brazen and senseless gun violence described in this indictment. Taking shooters off the streets has been a focus of my office and the NYPD, and long-term investigations such as this are making a real impact in restoring safety and driving down violence across Brooklyn," he said.

"We will continue to target the drivers of crime and incapacitate street crews that disregard the life and safety of others."

Gonzalez said a number of the shootings were captured on surveillance videos and the defendants allegedly boasted about their criminal actions on social media. He said they could also be heard on recorded Rikers Island jail phone calls discussing violent acts, the possibility of being indicted, how to hold a gun and boasting about street dominance.

The young men face an 81-count indictment in which they are variously charged with first-, second- and fourth-degree conspiracy, second-degree attempted murder, first- and second-degree robbery, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree assault, fourth-degree grand larceny, first-degree reckless endangerment, fourth-degree criminal facilitation and false personation.

Commissioner Shea said the investigation zeroed in on the upper echelons of the street organization, focusing on the violent street crime "that has too often shattered life for those who live and work in our Brooklyn neighborhoods."

"And by pursuing these kinds of cases together, our NYPD detectives and prosecutors in the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, are working every day to reduce this kind of violence in the weeks and months ahead."




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