A straight-A student with Ivy League aspirations is currently studying for her SATs in jail, after being nabbed with 13 others and accused of ferrying guns to a Harlem street gang. Prosecutors say 17-year-old Afrika Owes was taking orders from her 20-year-old boyfriend Jaquan Layne, who was running the gang from Rikers while doing time for armed robbery. She was hit with conspiracy and gun charges, but said in court, "I'm not guilty of these things."
Afrika's mother, Karen, dropped off an SAT book for her daughter in jail yesterday, and said it was possible that her daughter communicated with the "137th Street Crew" through Facebook and text messages. She said, "This could happen to anyone's daughter. Parents need to be more savvy." Owes was a student at Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts last year on scholarship, but withdrew "while facing a disciplinary investigation based on issues of academic and personal integrity that merited expulsion," said school spokesman David Thiel. A former classmate said she was caught cheating on an exam and skipping school.
She is currently a student at Millenium HS in the Financial District, and recently visited Harvard and Yale as potential colleges. "The whole community knows her," said Harlem's Rev. Vernon Williams. "She was a girl of high promise." Owes is currently being held on Rikers Island, and her mother said, "I want her free. I just want to get her out of that environment. (But) every experience we go through is an enriching experience. I feel confident life lessons have been learned."
