Harlem woman killed as bystander in shooting while looking for grandson, officials say

A 61-year-old woman who was fatally shot in Harlem on Tuesday night was an innocent bystander caught between two groups who were firing at each other, police officials said.

According to the NYPD, the woman stepped out of a building on Malcolm X Boulevard near West 113th Street to check on her grandson after hearing a commotion on the street around 10:20 p.m.

Officials said she was struck in the head by gunfire and was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital. They identified her as Excenia Mette, a resident on the block.

“This is a horrific, horrific incident that took the life of a grandmother,” Mayor Eric Adams said at the scene Wednesday afternoon. He said officials believed Mette was a local bodega owner, and said the incident showed a “level of senseless violence and total disregard for safety.”

Police arrested and charged a 23-year-old man with firearm possession in connection with the shooting, according to NYPD Capt. James Whitlock. Three people had a verbal dispute on the street before they shot at each other, Whitlock said, and police were still looking for additional people of interest.

Officials identified the 23-year-old as Harlem resident Darious Smith and said he was arrested last year for stabbing two people during an apparent robbery. He was brought to the hospital Tuesday in stable condition with a gunshot wound to his foot. Attorney information for Smith was not immediately available.

At least eight bullet-shell casings were recovered at the scene, according to officials.

Myisha Jordan, Mette’s niece, recalled her aunt as “a loving, good person.”

“She threw block parties, she did stuff for the kids,” Jordan said Wednesday. “She was a real good soul. She didn’t deserve to be laid out on the street.”

Mette’s ex-husband, Sory Mette, told Gothamist in a phone interview that he was shocked by her death.

“March 30th she called me … we had a holiday and she called to wish me happy holidays,” he said.

Crime-scene tape stretched across Malcolm X Boulevard Wednesday morning as officers kept the street closed to traffic between West 112th and 114th streets.

A person sitting and facing Excenia Mette’s building from a median in the road told police they were a member of her family, but declined to speak with reporters.

Minerva Fabian, who lives nearby, said she heard multiple gunshots Tuesday night, followed by sirens.

“They always shoot around here, but they haven't shot in a while,” she said. “Now that it’s getting hot, probably violence is going to increase.”

Separately, the NYPD said it was also looking for five or six suspects who shot and killed 19-year-old Kevin Hernandez around 5:45 p.m. Tuesday in Queens.

Officials said he was gunned down across the street from the Joseph F. Quinn Intermediate School on George Street near Cypress Avenue in Ridgewood. First responders took him to Brookdale Hospital Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries.

Police said the motive for the shooting was still unclear early Wednesday.

Police data shows gun violence has declined significantly so far this year in the NYPD’s 28th Precinct, which encompasses Central Harlem directly north of Central Park. Tuesday’s incident marked the precinct’s first fatal shooting of the year, according to police data compiled by Gothamist. Three people were shot and killed in the precinct last year.

Shootings have become relatively rare in the 104th Precinct, which includes Ridgewood, Glendale, Middle Village and Maspeth, police data shows. Hernandez’s death is the only gun homicide in the precinct since 2023, according Gothamist’s analysis.

This story has been updated with additional information.