On the evening of October 28, 2024, 18-year-old Joshua Sparrow was walking with his 15-year-old cousin near 961 Reverend James Polite Avenue in the Longwood section of the Bronx en route to a birthday party when three masked individuals confronted them at about 7:04 p.m. Gunfire followed; Joshua was struck multiple times in the head and torso and was taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, where he was pronounced dead. The assailants fled toward 165th Street, two reportedly dressed in all black and a third in a white shirt.

Joshua, described by his mother Jenny Sparrow as a good kid with no prior police record, became the fifth teenager shot to death in New York City in under a week. His family is seeking to have the street where he was killed co-named in his honor, and his mother has launched the Life Be Lyfing foundation to support parents and teens and promote mental health and therapy. No arrests have been announced and the investigation is ongoing.

If anyone knows anything about what happened near Reverend James Polite Avenue that night, please share information with investigators.