Second shooting suspect jailed in June wounding of two brothers in Schenectady

PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven Cook

A second suspect has been arrested in the June 2010 shooting of an 11-year-old boy and his 18-year-old brother, authorities said.

Kody Pierce, 19, of 876 Emmett St., was arraigned Thursday afternoon on two counts of second-degree attempted murder.

Pierce is one of two teens accused of opening fire on Schenectady Street June 23, 2010, hitting 11-year-old Nasjarah Pulliam and Pulliam’s older brother, 18-year-old Shaune Daniels.

Nasjarah was hit by a bullet fragment in his head. He stumbled into Jerry Burrell Park, where he collapsed. Daniels was hit as well, falling on Albany Street. Both survived.

Schenectady police arrested Pierce Thursday morning at his home. Kirel Prince, 17, was charged last summer. Prince was arrested in July and had been a suspect as early as two days after the shooting; his case remains pending.

It was unclear when Pierce became a suspect or how long he had been sought. Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney confirmed the arrest Thursday evening, but could offer few other details.

Pulliam and Daniels’ mother, Tonya Daniels, has been following the case. She has been at several of Prince’s court appearances and was at Pierce’s Thursday afternoon.

“I wanted to scream out in the courtroom,” she said later of seeing Pierce. With her was her son. Nasjarah, she said, wanted to see the man accused of shooting him. She asked her son if he had seen Pierce before, but he said he hadn’t, the mother said.

The mother also said she wanted to show Pierce the boy police say he shot. “I’m just happy right now he’s caught,” Tonya Daniels said.

Nasjarah was unconscious for some time after the shooting, with some fearing he wouldn’t survive. Shaune Daniels’ injuries were comparatively light.

Shaune was released from the hospital soon after the shooting, but continues to have trouble walking. He is undergoing physical therapy, his mother said. He has since gotten into his own legal trouble, facing a weapons count dating from November. He is being held at the Schenectady County Jail.

Nasjarah was hospitalized for more than five weeks and has made a remarkable recovery. He still has lingering medical problems, his mother said, but returned to school in November.

“Being alive and well, being able to interact people around him, he’s doing good,” Tonya Daniels said. “On another level, I see a lot of problems going on with him.”

Prince, the initial teen charged, has spent years in and out of juvenile detention facilities for crimes including assault and robbery.

Pierce has also been in and out of trouble with the law. He spent four days in jail last month on a drug charge, jail records show. He was also at the jail from Nov. 24 to Feb. 8 on a bail jumping charge before being released. The bail jumping stemmed from a criminal mischief charge from last year. He was also charged in May 2010 with misdemeanor assault, newspaper records show.

Pierce was held Thursday evening at the Schenectady County Jail on $50,000 bail.