A Manhattan man who aspired to join the military like his brother was fatally shot outside the home he lived in with his mother, authorities said Monday.
Kenneth Taveras, 33, was shot multiple times in the chest at around 10:35 p.m. on Sunday in a parking lot of the Polo Grounds Towers, a NYCHA building in Washington Heights, according to the NYPD.
“He was excited to join the Army,” the victim’s mother, Juana Taveras, explained. “His older brother served in the Navy and Marine Corps, but he has since returned. He always looked up to his brother and was interested in entering the military.”
Kenneth Taveras was transported to Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, but he did not survive.
The bereaved mother was visiting relatives in Jersey City when she received the news.
“When I came back, the area was taped, and the police were here,” she went on to say. “They had already transported him to the hospital. I couldn’t see him till this morning.”
According to authorities, three to five males fled in a black pickup vehicle and are being sought.
Kenneth Taveras had enlisted in the Army and was expected to report for duty in three months. He was enjoying letting his hair grow in the interim, knowing that a buzz cut was on the horizon.
The parking area where he was killed is located close to the building where Taveras, the youngest of five siblings, lived with his mother and sister.
“He grew up here,” the mother explained. “We never bothered anyone. I hardly talk to anyone other than to say hi. I’m not sure who did this, but I hope they have cameras in the parking lot.” I believe there are two cameras.
“He was my baby,” she explained. “When I last spoke to him yesterday, he was washing clothes in the washing machine.”
The motive baffles the mother, who is inconsolable.
“No one has come to speak with me yet,” she stated. “I have no idea what’s happening. “No cop has told me anything.”
According to police sources, the victim had three charges on his record, including possession of a loaded gun and assault. His most recent arrest occurred in 2016.
Kenneth Taveras previously worked for NYCHA before becoming a cleaner at a friend’s beauty salon near their house, according to his mother. He had a girlfriend in Florida who was transported to New York upon hearing the news.
So far this year, until February 25, 44 people have been homicide victims, a 27% decrease from the same period last year, when 60 people were killed, according to NYPD statistics.
However, homicides in the New York Police Department’s 32nd Precinct, where Taveras was killed, have increased. Two individuals have been slain in the precinct this year, as of Sunday. Last year, only one person had been killed at this time.
Shootings are down this year in the city, with 109 incidents as of Feb. 25, compared to 159 at the same time in 2023.
