Bronx Man Sentenced To 15 Years In Prison In Connection With Shooting Of Five-Year-Old Girl

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that AUSTIN MORRISHOW was sentenced today to 15 years in prison—the maximum sentence prescribed by statute—for illegally possessing ammunition in connection with a June 30, 2023, shooting in which MORRISHOW fired multiple shots at fleeing vehicles on a residential street in the Bronx, striking and seriously injuring a five-year-old girl.  MORRISHOW previously pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska, who imposed today’s sentence, as well as the sentence of MORRISHOW’s co-defendant, CURTIS WHITE, on July 9, 2025.  

“On June 30, 2023, Austin Morrishow and his co-defendant, Curtis White, fired several shots while attending a sidewalk vigil for someone who, in a sad twist of irony, was killed in a shooting,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton.  “Morrishow’s brazen acts left a bullet in a five-year-old child’s chest.  Instead of accepting responsibility, Morrishow remained a fugitive for eight months.  Today’s sentence sends an important message: if you threaten the lives of innocent New Yorkers through senseless gun violence, we will find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”

According to the allegations in the Complaint and Indictment, court filings, and statements made in court proceedings:

On June 30, 2023, MORRISHOW, WHITE, and several others were gathered on a residential sidewalk in the Bronx, attending a vigil for an individual who had been killed by gunfire just the day before.  As three cars idled nearby, one of the cars backfired, causing the group attending the vigil to drop to the ground and scatter.  MORRISHOW took cover behind a parked vehicle for a few seconds before aiming a .40 caliber pistol at the three nearby cars while draped over the roof of the parked vehicle, assuming a shooting stance, and emptying his .40 caliber pistol at the three nearby cars.  Shortly after MORRISHOW began shooting, WHITE sprinted after the three fleeing cars, firing his .380 caliber pistol wildly.  The shots fired by MORRISHOW and WHITE left at least seven .40 caliber shell casings and two .380 caliber shell casings in the street, and bullet fragments, bullet holes, and shattered windows in nearby parked cars. One of the shots fired by MORRISHOW hit a five-year-old girl sitting in the backseat of one of the cars in the chest, narrowly missing her vital organs.  Photographs of MORRISHOW firing his handgun at the fleeing vehicles and the back of the vehicle in which the five-year-old girl was sitting, with bullet holes circled in red, are below.

MORRISHOW and WHITE fled immediately after the shooting.  Although WHITE was apprehended shortly after the shooting in July 2023, MORRISHOW evaded law enforcement until February 2024.  MORRISHOW was not permitted to possess ammunition because of, among other felony convictions, a prior federal conviction for using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a narcotics conspiracy, for which he was sentenced to 60 months in prison.  At the time of the shooting, MORRISHOW was also serving a term of supervised release in connection with his previous federal conviction.  WHITE was not permitted to possess a firearm or ammunition because of his prior state conviction for attempted first-degree assault with intent to cause serious injury with a weapon.

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In addition to the prison term, MORRISHOW, 27, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution to the victim of the shooting.  WHITE, 28, of the Bronx, New York, was previously sentenced to 51 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and was also ordered to pay restitution to the victim of the shooting.      

Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the New York City Police Department, and thanked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Marshals Service for their assistance with the investigation and apprehension of the defendants.

The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerry J. Fang is in charge of the prosecution.