Stephen McBean

Stephen McBean, a 30-year-old Black man from Brooklyn, was a father, a fiancé, and a construction worker trying to build a new life. A native New Yorker, he was the son of a single Panamanian mother whose death from cancer when he was just 15 left a deep mark on him. After his release from prison in September 2020, family members said he was embracing a different path. He was engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Antonia Forde, with whom he had an 8-year-old daughter, Milan. He was also a father to a 10-year-old son, Joshua. His cousin, Jahaira Springer, said he was “just stepping up and starting to realize what life was about.” His fiancée remembered him as a “loving person” who “would do anything for me. Same for his kids.”

Just two weeks after celebrating his 30th birthday, McBean was shot and killed on the night of January 21, 2023. At around 9:15 p.m., he was walking with a 28-year-old man on East 46th Street near Avenue K in the Flatlands neighborhood, about a half-mile from his home. A black sedan approached, and a hail of bullets was fired from the vehicle. Residents in the area reported hearing a half-dozen gunshots, followed by three more fired in return. McBean was struck in the stomach and rushed to Mount Sinai Brooklyn in a private vehicle, but he did not survive. The man he was with was shot in the right shoulder and was listed in stable condition.

In the days following the shooting, McBean’s heartbroken family searched for answers. Police began looking for the black sedan, which an eyewitness said had fled the scene with its back window shattered. McBean's cousin told reporters she believed the killer was someone who knew him, telling them, "The guy who killed him sat and celebrated," referring to a birthday dinner and bowling night McBean had hosted on January 8. She added that people in the neighborhood had given police names they were investigating.

The investigation progressed over the next several months. Investigators determined that McBean had also opened fire during the incident. On May 10, 2023, police arrested a suspect, 25-year-old Wayne Hill, who lived within a half-mile of the shooting scene. Hill was charged with gun possession and reckless endangerment. At the time of his arrest, he was not charged with murder due to the finding that he and McBean had exchanged shots.

As of May 2023, the investigation into Stephen McBean’s death was ongoing. Police stated that the charges against Wayne Hill could be upgraded as the case continued to develop.