NEW YORK (CNN) — A 23-year-old man was arraigned Saturday on a murder charge in the death of a toddler shot as his parents pushed him in a stroller across a Brooklyn street.
Howard Jackson, a prosecutor with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, told reporters Saturday that Daquan Breland faces a criminal possession of a weapon charge in addition to second-degree murder.
At his initial appearance Saturday, Breland was ordered to remain behind bars; he’s scheduled to next be in court September 12, according to Jackson. Breland is on parole for a felony assault in upstate New York, according to police.
A call placed by CNN on Saturday night to his court-appointed attorney, George Sheinberg, was not immediately returned.
Breland and another young man, Daquan Wright, were apprehended Friday morning by New York detectives and U.S. marshals at a Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, apartment according to New York police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
“They fled New York City almost immediately after this incident and that’s where they were located,” Jackson said of the central Pennsylvania city.
Wright, a 19-year-old from Brooklyn, was charged Saturday with criminal possession of a weapon.
Their arrests stem from last Sunday evening, when 16-month-old Antiq Hennis was in a stroller on Livonia Avenue in Brooklyn.
An eyewitness said Breland opened fire after Wright handed him a gun, according to Kelly, who did not cite a possible motive. Antiq was shot in the left side of his head, according to police.
The toddler was transported to Brookdale University Hospital and pronounced dead on arrival.
Both men have some kind of relationship with the young boy’s father, 21-year-old Anthony Hennis, who as of Friday had declined to be interviewed, according to Kelly.
Jackson said Saturday that he personally hadn’t yet spoken with Anthony Hennis, though his hope was that he’d be cooperative.
As to the case, the prosecutor said it was hard not to feel for the boy’s kin.
“I haven’t prosecuted a case like this before,” said Jackson, who handles homicide cases for his office. “… Even if you don’t know this child, you couldn’t help but grieve for the family.”
By Greg Botelho and Chris Boyette
CNN’s Erinn Cawthon contributed to this report.
