A 14-year-old Jersey City boy is being charged with aggravated manslaughter after he allegedly shot and killed his 12-year-old half-brother, Hassan George, last month and then tried to cover it up by dragging the dying boy's body out into the street. It seems the older boy was playing with his mother's semi-automatic when he shot Hassan in the chest. Police say there was not bad blood between the two.
The boys share the same father—who has been in prison since July 1, 2010 for "aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, making terroristic threats and two counts of drug possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school"—and were at the home of the older boy's mother, Shaara Green-Simms, at the time of the shooting. A corrections officer for 18 years, Green-Simms was (according to some reports) home at the time of the incident and it was her gun that was used.
According to Hudson County Prosecutor Edward De Fazio, Hassan George's brother "took the weapon, and then loaded the weapon and pointed it" at the boy. "It discharged one time, hitting his brother in the chest ... It was a straight-on shot." Once he realized what had happened, the teen allegedly dragged his brother to the sidewalk and called 911, pretending the boy had been shot there. It appears that Hassan was still alive when he got to the street, but he was declared dead when EMT arrived.
There are currently no criminal charges pending against Green-Simms, though it remains unclear why her son was able to get his hands on her service weapon. She has taken a leave of absence from her job and if any charges are coming, "That decision would not be made until after the investigation is complete," DeFazio said.
"We are not in any way alleging this was a premeditated or purposeful act, however we are alleging the act manifested extreme indifference to the value of human life," DeFazio explained of the charges. "I don’t know what to tell you, other than it’s tragic."
