A Brooklyn man on Tuesday was indicted with murder, assault and other charges in connection with the fatal shooting of a 7-month-old baby in Williamsburg earlier this month.
Mathew Rodriguez, 18, was charged with three counts of second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, second-degree assault, two counts of first-degree criminal use of a firearm, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a firearm, first-degree reckless endangerment, three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, tampering with physical evidence, first-degree hindering prosecution and second-degree hindering prosecution, according to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
His co-defendant, Amuri Greene, 21, also of Brooklyn, is expected to be arraigned on the same indictment today.
According to the investigation, on April 1, 2026, at approximately 1:15pm, near the corner of Humboldt Street and Moore Street in East Williamsburg, the defendants allegedly rode on a moped with Rodriguez driving and Greene as a passenger. As the defendants approached a group of adults and children gathered on the street, Greene allegedly pulled out a handgun and fired multiple times into the crowd, prosecutors said.
As a result of the shooting, a 7-month-old Kaori Patterson-Moore, who was seated in a stroller, was struck in the head by a bullet and died from her injuries. Her two-year-old brother was grazed by a bullet in the back and survived.
The investigation revealed that the defendants fled the scene on the moped, which struck a vehicle while going the wrong way on a one-way street and crashed a few blocks from the scene of the shooting. Greene was apprehended shortly thereafter, and Rodriguez was later arrested in Pennsylvania.
“On a beautiful spring day, this senseless act of gun violence took the life of an innocent baby, traumatized a family and shook an entire community," Gonzalez said in a statement. "Little Kaori was killed, and her two-year-old brother was wounded — all because of a decision to settle a dispute with gunfire, with no regard for who might be harmed. With homicides in Brooklyn at a record low, this is exactly the kind of violence that we must fight against and never accept. We are determined to hold these defendants fully accountable.”
