Seventeen-year-old Deaza Barkley, known to family as De-De, was fatally shot at a friend’s house in the Holliswood section of Queens on Saturday, February 15, 2025. Emergency responders arrived at a Clover Place residence about 5:15 p.m.; she was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center and pronounced dead from a gunshot wound to the head.

Deaza lived in East New York, Brooklyn, and was a high school student, a cheerleader, and a dancer who had been thinking about a future in the Air Force. Her mother said Deaza had recently completed a school project about gun violence. A 16-year-old male who was at the house was arrested and charged with manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon. The criminal complaint states the firearm discharged while the defendant was handling it, and investigators are trying to trace a weapon that had its serial number removed.

Family, friends, and community members held a vigil that included balloon releases and chants of Long live De-De. The investigation into the circumstances of her death is ongoing. If anyone knew Deaza, was at the Clover Place house, or has information about the weapon, please come forward.