A 61-year-old woman was shot and killed by a stray bullet late Tuesday night while stepping outside her Harlem apartment to check on her grandson, police said.
The victim, identified as Excenia Mette, was standing outside 65 Lenox Avenue near West 113th Street around 10:30 p.m. when she was struck in the head. Uniformed officers on patrol nearby heard gunfire and raced to the scene, where they found Mette unresponsive on the sidewalk.
Medics rushed her to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital, but she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
Known in the neighborhood as “Ms. Zee,” Mette was a familiar face in the community — a former deli owner and active member of the Harlem chapter of the National Action Network, the civil rights group founded by Rev. Al Sharpton. The organization released a statement condemning the shooting and decrying her death as “senseless.”
According to NYPD, the gunfire broke out after a verbal altercation between three men escalated into violence. Officers arriving on the scene witnessed two men exchanging gunfire and pursued one of them as he fled. An internal report identified the fleeing suspect as Darius Smith, 23, who had sustained a gunshot wound to his left foot.
Despite the injury, Smith attempted to escape, discarding a firearm as he ran. Officers eventually apprehended him and transported him to a hospital, where he remained in stable condition on Wednesday.
Authorities confirmed that Mette’s grandson had no involvement in the confrontation. Police recovered eight shell casings from the scene, and a handgun was later located on St. Nicholas Avenue. By Wednesday afternoon, sections of Lenox Avenue were still cordoned off as investigators collected evidence.
Mayor Eric Adams visited the area Wednesday and called the incident a “senseless act of violence,” emphasizing the toll on innocent bystanders. “New Yorkers shouldn’t have to live in fear of being caught in the crossfire,” he said. While the area has seen increased gang activity, Adams noted it remains unclear whether this shooting was gang-related.
Smith has a criminal record and was previously arrested in connection with a 2024 robbery in which two people were stabbed, the mayor confirmed.
