Student Killed During New York’s J’Ouvert Was Accosted By A Man

City officials are debating whether or not to continue Brooklyn’s J’Ouvert festival after a St. Johns University student was shot and killed for telling a man to stop grinding on her.

According to reports, 22-year-old Tiarah Poyau was with three friends enjoying the early morning activities of the pre-West Indian Day parade when she was accosted by a man. Poyau, who was studying to be an accountant, told the man to “get off me.” Her friends were walking ahead of her, then at about 4:15AM heard a shot and saw Poyau fall to the ground at Empire Boulevard and Franklin Avenue. Poyau was shot right above the eye at close range.

Before his arrest, 20-year-old Reginald Moise told friends “I think I shot somebody on the parade route. I didn’t know the gun was loaded.” Moise, who has five priors, was later nabbed Tuesday morning. Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce–who spoke highly of the victim–said Moise tried to get rid of the murder weapon.

“He makes a phone call directly after the shooting and tells a friend of his, ‘Would you mind if I put my gun into your apartment?’ “

Police says the friend was Moise’s girlfriend. At the woman’s home, Moise drunkenly fired two rounds into a mirror, injuring his hand. One bullet entered a neighbors house and the neighbor alerted authorities.