By Carol Tannenhauser
The young man who was shot on West 109th Street near Columbus Avenue on the night of July 14th died on July 20th, an NYPD spokesperson told WSR.
His name was Kenneth Azuris, and he was 19 years old.
His story does not end there. Determined not to be another “devastated mother” whose child fell prey to gun violence, Marisol Azuris, 54, “found a way to keep her boy alive,” The Daily News reported.
Marisol has a friend whose brother had been waiting for a heart transplant for five years. “She decided to donate (Kenneth’s) organs and turn her pain into purpose,” she told The News. In addition to his heart, she donated his kidneys to his grandfather and another family friend. ‘You feel a peace, you feel a tranquility of spirit,’” she said. “You feel like your kid is saying, ‘I’m here, Mom.’”
Kenneth had been standing in front of 67 West 109th at 9 PM on July 14th, when a white Mercedes drove by and a masked passenger fired several shots, hitting him in the right side of the head, The News reported. “Police sources said Kenneth was armed with a gun and shot first…(and) the shooting was the result of a long-standing dispute between Kenneth Azuris, the driver and the gunman…Marisol Azuris told The News she believes she knows the people who killed him.”
*“‘I don’t have time to cry. I just have time to make sure that this doesn’t keep happening,’” she said. “If the mothers of Columbus Avenue are quiet, our kids are going to keep dying. All I ask is that the government gives all the rights and power back to the police so they can do their jobs. It’s our kids that are dying.’”
*This paragraph was added after initial posting.
Police released the surveillance video below showing part of the incident. Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD‘s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
“child fell prey to gun violence”
and
“Police sources said Kenneth was armed with a gun and shot first…”
don’t add up.
Regardless, he was a human being, someone’s child, and his life is no longer. Condolences to his mother, and if there can be any consolation for the loss of her son, it will be the legacy of his organs bringing life to others. She has given back in the most selfless way. Let’s just take one minute to recognize that.
His mom also said this: “If the mothers of Columbus Avenue are quiet, our kids are going to keep dying. All I ask is that the government gives all the rights and power back to the police so they can do their jobs. It’s our kids that are dying.”
Thanks for pointing that out. Added to story.
Recognized. But don’t try to just gloss over the face that the decedent wasn’t an ‘innocent bystander’, and that he was involved to the extent of shooting first.
Can you recognize that? Do you understand the implciations thereof?
thank you NYYGirl. I agree.
Another innocent (well, yes, he pull a gun and fired first, but…) young man who was turning his life around is brought down by this oppressive society. I can only shed a tear as I take a knee. Will you join me?
NO!
Another sad story, but thanks for the excellent reporting with details.
Black Lives Matter … except when young Black men kill other young Black men. No one will protest, demonstrate, or scream with outrage over Mr. Azuris’ death. The governor and the mayor will not comment. Al Sharpton will not even know his name.
reply to Ben David:
how do you know that either the murderer or the victim were Black? i don’t see it stated in the article.
The attacks on Cuomo, de bLasio, and Sharpton are gratuitous. You think Sharpton has never spoken out against shootings in the community, gang violence, etc? if you think that you haven’t been paying attention. You just seem to want to use this tragedy to trash a civil rights leader and some elected officials you don’t like. And a tragedy it is. Please let the family mourn.
You call Al Sharpton a civil rights leader? Tawana Brawley. Crown Heights. Freddy’s Fashion Mart. People who do not have blinders on know what Sharpton is.
reply to UWSHebrew:
Your anger continues to overwhelm you.
Who is a legit Civil Rights leader is decided by the Black community, not by a white man with an… ummm… questionable record on the issue. Of course not everyone in the Black community loves him, but i think few would dispute Sharpton is a civil rights leader, and an effective one.
i don’t expect this will make a difference to UWSHebrew, but maybe some open minded readers are interested: MLK was similarly reviled and discredited when he was active. Of course Sharpton is no MLK, but the report below by Calvin Trillin from 1964 is revealing. Exactly the same sorts of arguments were used against him and he was called irresponsible:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1964/08/29/letter-from-jackson
Bruce, aside from a handful of progressive liberals who agree with every word you always say, many WSR readers agree with my common sense points. Unfortunately, our mayor is in lockstep with your beliefs, hence our city continues to spiral downhill. Unlike you, I do not accept someone as a “civil rights leader”, who has repeatedly spouted their hatred and vitriol of others (that has lead to DEATHS). MLK is truly the ideal. Sharpton is the opposite. I will never bow to the hysterical cult of the current talking points of “White Fragility”.
He likely has access to google and a spare 10 seconds. The man was black. RIP
We need all people especially young people to feel that they matter; that are important not just to their families to but society as a whole. Look in their eyes as if they are the most important thing you can see. Show them that we love them. Support schools that demonstrably help them go to great colleges. They should never be “just another black kid from blah”. They are unique.
Well said
I agree with NYGirl, and to the mom and the family my heart goes out to you . It is a beautiful way to honor your son’s life and memory to donate his organs.
Clearly, there is more background to this story,but ii is so wrong that a 19 year old would be able to get a gun as well as the others. His mother did a very generous thing
This says it all “All I ask is that the government gives all the rights and power back to the police so they can do their jobs. It’s our kids that are dying.” Marisol Azuris mother of slain 19 year old Kenneth Azuris.
BROKEN WINDOWS POLICING IS THE REAL COMMUNITY POLICING
There are too many shooting incidents right now. NYC govt has to develop plans to reduce them. But let’s not backtrack on the progress that has been made on criminal justice.
Let’s not go back to the Giuliani era, when brutality towards Black/Hispanic NYers, including many shootings of innocents (see Amadou Diallo), was defended by the Mayor w/o hesitation. While running for Mayor, Giuliani actually encouraged a PBA riot outside CIty Hall, using racist language.
Let’s not go back to the Bloomberg era, when 100s of thousands of Black/Hispanic men were racially profiled.
let’s not go back on bail reform. Cash bail is a barbaric practice that is used in very few advanced countries outside of the US. Poor people convicted of no crime have languished in jail for months and years.
There are better ideas. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams has been at the forefront of making suggestions (see link below).
https://www.pubadvocate.nyc.gov/press/williams-calls-public-safety-reforms-amid-gun-violence-spike/
The progress was actually made during the Giuliani and Bloomberg days, when crime went down, lives were saved, quality of life increased, and parents started to believe in the City enough to raise their families here. De Blasio and his believers brought that all to a screeching halt by demonizing the NYPD, empowering criminals, putting our quality of life into a downward spiral, and chasing out our tax base. Those of you that denigrated the people that have been screaming about this from Day 1 are now faced with these results. You have no one to blame but yourselves.
The problem is the legislators on the city, state and federal level as well as executives, mayors, governors, and even prosecutors. Their rhetoric, actions and inactions have fostered a climate of distrust, disrespect, demonization and hatred among some of our citizens toward the police resulting in lawlessness and a crippling of our police.
The police reform laws recently enacted in NYC and NYS, especially the so called diaphragm law, which criminalized certain long established restraining techniques, is having a devastating effect on the men and women of the NYPD. Other agencies have also been affected. Citing the “Diaphragm law the NY State Police union has requested not to have its members assigned to NYC and police agencies in neighboring counties have set restriction on their officers regarding enforcement actions taken by their members in NYC. This is unprecedented.
I know that the officers of the NYPD truly want to do their job. But, right now they are confused as to what the public actually expects of them, they are scared for their safety, they fear for their job security (ie. being subject to arrest if something is not right in making an arrest) and they feel attacked and/or abandoned by public officials and the citizenry.
I believe that the citizens of this great city want law and order. They want laws enforced. The Broken Windows Theory of policing actually works. Evidence of this is when in 1994 with NYC recording record numbers of crime and quality of life at a record low the NYPD started to hold its commanders accountable and told the cops to do their job, enforce the laws, summons violators and arrest perpetrators of crimes. This was not rocket science. From then until the current city administration came to power crime was on a steady decline and the quality of life in NYC was on a steady rise. Now crime is spiraling upward and the quality of life is rapidly diminishing.
Take care of the small things and the big things will fall into place.I have adopted a slogan and preach it at every chance,
BROKEN WINDOWS POLICING IS THE REAL COMMUNITY POLICING.