2 weeks Ago By Charles Lane
A 18-year-old man was sentenced on Wednesday to 10 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to fatally shooting an 11-year-old girl in the stomach in 2022. Matthew Godwin, who was 15 at the time, was charged as an adult with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He pleaded guilty to murder on March 6, according to the Bronx district attorney’s office.
Godwin's attorney declined to comment, but said during court that he believed his client was remorseful. Godwin admitted to riding on the back of a scooter driven by Omar Bojang in the Bronx on May 16, 2022. According to prosecutors, the pair were looking for a rival gang member.
Bojang drove the scooter onto the sidewalk and when they spotted a 13-year-old boy, Godwin fired two shots, officials said. One of the bullets struck Kyhara Tay, who was standing on the sidewalk nearby, authorities said. She had been waiting for friends outside a nail salon at Westchester Avenue and Fox Street.
She died later that night at a hospital. “Kyhara never had the chance to grow up,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said in a statement. “Her death is a profound tragedy, especially considering the ages of everyone involved.
Today’s sentence is the culmination of justice, but this is not the final chapter of Kyhara’s life story.” Bojang, now 21, pleaded guilty on the same day and was slated to be sentenced to 15 years for manslaughter on Wednesday, but the judge delayed that sentencing after Bojang got into a dispute with jail staff ahead of his probation interview. He was scheduled to be sentenced on May 14 and will also face five years of post-release supervision.
Tay’s mother, Yahisha Gomez, told the court during Wednesday’s sentencing that a mother should never know the pain of losing a child. Gomez spoke through tears in the packed courtroom as she sympathized with Godwin’s family, but her voice faltered when she said she will never get her daughter back. “I keep asking God for your forgiveness because I can never forgive you,” Gomez said.
Godwin, who wore a thin mustache and whose long hair was pulled into a ponytail, entered court in a green jumpsuit with his hands shackled behind his back. He stared straight ahead as Gomez struggled through her speech, looking over his shoulder at her one time. Through a weak and mumbling voice, Godwin said he was sorry and regretted his actions.
“As I got older, I realized that I took the life of an 11-year-old girl,” he said. Judge Joseph McCormack acknowledged Godwin’s efforts at improving his life and said he delayed the start of Godwin’s sentence until he completed his GED program in August..
