Posted on: November 20, 2025 04:00 PM

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32 gang members indicted from murder to conspiracy charges for four year turf war in Queens

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch announced today that 32 reputed members of the Bad-Co Ballout gang have been indicted following a year-long investigation into multiple shootings and homicides in Southeast Queens dating back to 2021. It was the largest single gang takedown in the history of the DA’s office.

The defendants are variously charged in a 97-count indictment with murder, attempted murder, weapon possession, conspiracy and other crimes. Six defendants are charged with conspiracy in the first degree and face up to life in prison. The gang is allegedly responsible for carrying out at least 13 shootings – including three homicides — often in broad daylight, near parks, public schools and residential areas. The gang was based in Queens Village, which was referred to by members as “Shadyville,”

District Attorney Katz said: “As alleged, the members of Bad-Co have operated as a ruthless gang in Queens for the past four years and are now considered the most violent in the borough. They terrorized rivals, and harmed innocent bystanders, to maintain and expand their geographic dominance. Tragically, three people were murdered due to this gang’s indiscriminate violence. We will not relent in our work to dismantle gangs in this borough. Seventeen firearms were seized during this investigation, and I commend the prosecutors in my Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau and our NYPD partners for their work to suppress gun and gang violence in our borough.”

Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said: “For years, the members of these rival gangs terrorized communities in Queens, turning neighborhoods into their own deadly playgrounds and then bragging about it on social media. They wanted credit for the shootings they carried out, and today, we’re happy to give it to them. Using targeted enforcement and precision policing, the NYPD investigators did the dangerous work needed to stop this violence. Thanks to them, Queens is significantly safer today.”

Eighteen of the defendants were arraigned yesterday before Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder and five were arraigned before Queens Supreme Court Justice Bruna DiBiase. (See addendum.)

Six defendants are in custody on other matters and will be arraigned at a later date. Three remain at large.

District Attorney Katz said that, according to the indictment and investigation, the defendants are all alleged members or associates of the Bad-Co gang and are affiliated with either the 55 Neighborhood Crips or the Self-Made Mak Ballas gangs. As alleged, the objective of the Bad-Co members was to kill their rivals and establish geographic dominance.

The Bad-Co gang is led by Jahvon Attapoku, who goes by the street name of “Shady.” The defendant stored and distributed loaded and operable firearms at his Queens Village home and allegedly gave permission to gang members to shoot rivals.

Since 2021, the members of Bad-Co have been in an ongoing territorial dispute with rivals in the Top Opp Mak Ballas, 5th Clocc and Blitz Gang 4.

The following incidents were charged as part of the alleged conspiracy:

• November 5, 2021. Defendant Sean “Broad Day” Chang fired multiple shots at a rival near 205th Street and Linden Boulevard in St Albans.
• March 25, 2022. Chang and three other defendants left Attapoku’s home with two loaded firearms with the intent to find and kill a rival gang member. At approximately 3:04 p.m. that day, Chang fired a .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol, hitting a 16-year-old in the rear of Cardozo High School in Bayside.
• June 7, 2022. Attapoku and defendants Mekhi “Scarfaxe” Hooi and Elijah “Eli” Lawrence fired 23 rounds near a home on 113rd Road in St. Albans in an attempt to murder a rival. One bullet entered the home and struck a 15-year-old girl in the leg.
• November 10, 2022. Attapoku and four other defendants robbed rival 18-year-old Mark Greene of his gun outside Greene’s high school in Kew Gardens Hills. While standing with Attapoku, Jeff “Havoc” Joseph took out a loaded gun and fired multiple times at Greene, killing him. The shooting happened at approximately 3 p.m.
• January 20, 2023. A then 14-year-old attempted to kill a man by firing a semi-automatic gun at him. The shooting took place outside of the New Dawn Charter School and Early Bird II Educational Center in Jamaica at approximately 3:50 p.m.
• May 29, 2023. Joseph fired multiple shots in the vicinity of Wayanda Park in Queens Village.
• April 29, 2024. Emeka “BT” Onondu and Shayne “Gotti Sleeze” Shepphard each fired multiple shots into a home on 120th Avenue in St. Albans attempting to kill a rival.
• May 14, 2024. Two defendants stole a car from Nassau County and drove it to Queens to give it to three other defendants to use in a shooting. Defendants Onondu and Leon “Glo” Gardner were then driven by Joseph “Slim” Rodrigues to Coombs Street in Springfield Gardens where they fired at a rival, attempting to kill him.
• May 20, 2024. Onondu and a then 16-year-old defendant each fired guns at approximately 3 p.m. through and outside of a McDonald’s restaurant on Linden Boulevard in Cambria Heights in order to kill a rival.
• September 16, 2024. A then 15-year-old defendant was engaged in a fight with a rival gang member and fired at him multiple times across a St. Albans intersection. William Alcindor, a 66-year-old motorist, was caught in the gun fire as he drove on Baisley Boulevard. Alcindor lost control of his car and hit a woman on the sidewalk, seriously injuring her. The 66-year-old was pronounced deceased shortly after the incident.
• October 13, 2024. Jsean “Jay Recc” Philogene fired at a rival gang member on Monterrey Street near Wayanda Park in Queens Village, attempting to kill him.
• January 27, 2025. A 17-year-old defendant shot and killed Ikechukwu Onondu in the vestibule of a building on 86th drive in Queens Village.
• September 5, 2025. A 16-year-old defendant fired at rival gang members, attempting to kill them, in the back of a commercial building on 188th Street in Fresh Meadows.

JAHVON “SHADY” ATTAPOKU, 21, of Queens Village, was indicted on charges of conspiracy in the first, second and fourth degrees, attempted murder in the second degree, attempted assault in the first degree, assault in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, reckless endangerment in the first degree, murder in the second degree and robbery in the first degree Attapoku is due back in court November 25.

ALLEN AYBAR, 18, of Fresh Meadows, was indicted on charges of conspiracy in the second and fourth degrees, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and criminal facilitation in the second degree. Abyar is due back in court December 18.

SEAN “BROAD DAY” CHANG, 20, of Cambria Heights, was indicted on charges of conspiracy in the second and fourth degrees. Chang is due back in court December 18.

ANTHONY “ANT” CRAWFORD, 19, of Manhattan, was indicted on charges of conspiracy in the second and fourth degrees, criminal facilitation in the second degree and attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. Crawford is due back in court December 17.

JASIAH “SIAH” DEFRITAS, 19, of Queens Village, was indicted on charges of conspiracy in the second and fourth degrees, attempted robbery in the first and second degrees, assault in the second degree, criminal facilitation in the second degree and grand larceny. He has not been apprehended.

LEON “GLO” GARDNER, 18, of Jamaica, was indicted on charges of conspiracy in the second and fourth degrees, attempted murder in the second degree, attempted assault in the first degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and reckless endangerment in the first degree. Gardner is due back in court December 12.

MEKHI “SCARFAXE” HOOI, 21, of South Jamaica, was indicted on charges of conspiracy in the first, second and fourth degrees, attempted murder in the second degree, attempted assault in the first degree, assault in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and reckless endangerment in the first degree. Hooi is in custody on another matter and will be arraigned at a later date.

17-YEAR-OLD DEFENDANT, of Queens Village, was indicted on charges of conspiracy in the second and fourth degrees, attempted murder in the second degree, attempted assault in the first degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and reckless endangerment in the first degree. He is due back in court December 18.

17-YEAR-OLD DEFENDANT, of Queens Village, was indicted on charges of conspiracy in the second and fourth degrees, burglary in the second degree and attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degrees. He is due back in court December 18.

 JEFF “HAVOC” JOSEPH, 21, of Bellerose Manor, was indicted on charges of conspiracy in the first, second and fourth degrees, murder in the second degree, robbery in the first degree, attempted murder in the second degree, attempted assault in the first degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and reckless endangerment in the first degree. Joseph is due back in court January 16, 2026.

ELIJAH “ELI” LAWRENCE