A 19-year-old Brooklyn man accused in a daylight Labor Day shooting has been ordered held on steep bail, weeks after he was released in a separate gun case that prosecutors had sought to keep him jailed on.
Nayshawn Wilkinson was arraigned Wednesday and held on $500,000 cash bail or a $1 million bond in connection with the shooting of a 24-year-old man during the West Indian Day Parade on Monday. The new attempted murder case comes about a month after he made bail in an earlier case involving the alleged shooting of a 15-year-old boy at a playground.
In the July 22 case, prosecutors had asked Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge Janice Robinson to remand Wilkinson without bail. Instead, the judge set bail at $5,000 cash or a $10,000 bond, which Wilkinson posted days later, allowing him to be released pending further court proceedings.
Brooklyn Judge Masateru Marubashi took a different approach this week, setting the much higher bail package. Under the order, Wilkinson would need to post $500,000 in cash or put up $100,000 to secure the bond before he could be released again in New York City.
During the court appearance, Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney Ari Rottenberg said the gun used in the Labor Day incident had allegedly been altered in an unusual way. “The defendant attempted to disguise the firearm by taping Skittles wrappers around the grips,” Rottenberg told the court. “[A police officer] saw the defendant raise the firearm up and heard the shot.”
Wilkinson had been scheduled to return to court Tuesday for the July shooting case, but by then he was already in NYPD custody facing the new attempted murder charge tied to the parade violence.
Authorities said Wilkinson allegedly opened fire around 4 p.m. Monday along Nostrand Avenue in Crown Heights, where crowds had gathered for the West Indian Day Parade. The 24-year-old victim was struck in the buttocks and was among eight people shot or stabbed during the annual Brooklyn celebration, police said.
The wounded man was taken to Kings County Hospital, where he was reported in stable condition.
Wilkinson was escorted from the NYPD’s 77th Precinct stationhouse on Tuesday before being taken to court.
Once there, prosecutors again asked that Wilkinson be held without bail – but the judge asked what they would be comfortable with if he did set bail, and set it at what they suggested.
In 13 cases reviewed by The Post last month, the lefty judge released eight defendants without bail, including two charged with attempted murder. Five others were given bail they later posted.
“This is proof of what happens when you let shooters back on the streets,” a frustrated law enforcement source said Tuesday. “Another bite at the apple and someone’s shot this time.”
