Crime in the City full episode: July 18, 2026

This week, a stolen car crashes into a home and Molotov cocktails are thrown at houses of worship. Plus, this wasn't supposed to be an end. A man is shot and killed at a basketball tournament in Harlem. Right now, Fox 5's Crime in the City. For our first story this week, we begin in Harlem, where a former college basketball player at Fairleigh Dickinson University was shot and killed on a basketball court. And tonight, there are still no arrests in this case. Lisa Evers is live in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, with this story. Lisa. Well, Natasha and Steve, at this moment, NYPD detectives are actively searching for the killer of Keanu Rochford. And meantime, the memorial here at the park where he volunteered and taught kids basketball continues to grow. He's regarded as a local hero in this community. Also, right now, his mother is preparing for a tragedy that no parent can ever prepare for, burying her son. All of this as the story develops. First off, a sheet over him, and then he was in a body bag. He looked like Keanu, but the blood was coming out of the back of his head. Eden Rochford consoles her daughter, Kai, and brother, Cairo, two of the three Rochford triplets, together at birth, and now without their beloved brother, Keanu. On Friday night, Keanu was at a basketball tournament in Harlem when police say a gunman shot him twice in the head, struck two other people, then got away. Can I be for real? Yeah, please. My biggest fear is when he goes to these tournaments, once he crosses that bridge, that's my biggest fear. Keanu's going to get shot because these days, this violence, this gun violence thing, everybody's walking with a gun. Keanu, a standout basketball star at Fairleigh Dickinson University, played pro ball in Europe. He was working now as an intake counselor for homeless families in Brooklyn. WIN organization CEO Christine Quinn said, Keanu went above and beyond his duties as a WIN coordinator, helping New Yorkers most in need find the path and will to build a brighter future. Keanu lived with purpose, and his passion for helping others reached far beyond his role at WIN, especially through his work across the city with children. I'm not supposed to bury my children. No, I have to. It was packed Friday night at the Kingdome Court. Hundreds of people there went running after the gunfire erupted. Police and paramedics did everything they could to keep Keanu alive, but did not succeed. And so far, few, if any, witnesses have come forward. Just like on the MTA says, if you see something, say something. I need somebody to say something, and I know somebody saw something. Eden Rochford tells me she knows her life will never be the same. And I went in, and they had a sheet over him, and he was in a body bag. He had a bullet in the side of his head. And I said, Keanu, this wasn't supposed to be an ending. This is just not what this was supposed to be. I hugged him, I kissed him, and I told him, I'll see you in the next life. I love you. And then Ms. Rochford says she zipped up that body bag, and now she is waiting for the city medical examiner to determine the exact cause of death. Police are treating this as a homicide with the two shots to the head. Two other people were wounded in that shooting. They're expected to survive. NYPD is now saying that they are offering a $3,500 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or people responsible for the shooting. All you have to do is call 1-800-577-TIPS. You're given a number. You don't have to give your name. We now head to the Wakefield section of the Bronx, where a woman from Mount Vernon was fatally shot and killed after driving home from work. Police have since made an arrest in this case. And developing tonight, we have new surveillance video on the killing of a 39-year-old woman in the Bronx after she had just left work, her family speaking out to Fox 5, while police still look for a suspect. Lisa Evers is live in the Wakefield section of the Bronx tonight with that new video. Lisa. Well, Natasha, right now, NYPD detectives are leaving no stone unturned in their hunt for the moped shooter who opened fire on this 39-year-old woman who was sitting in her car right over here last night, killing her. She had left work and was on her way home, but never made it. Just a short time ago, we obtained surveillance video of the moments that the shots rang out. This is surveillance video from a resident of the street where it happened last night around midnight. You can see the moped shooter in the red circle there making his fast getaway. Now, NYPD tells us 39-year-old Julia Anderson was in her Jeep at an intersection with Murdoch Avenue when the moped shooter unloaded his gun on her. Now, NYPD detectives are going door to door trying to get more video angles and more witnesses. Julia's family tells us she was less than half a mile away from their Mount Vernon home when the tragedy struck. The gunman rolled up on the Jeep near Murdoch Street just before midnight, started firing through the passenger window. She was rushed to Jacobi Hospital, which is a high-level trauma center, but did not make it. There were so many loud gunshots that woke up this resident who was sleeping in his apartment across the street. Here's what he told us. I was asleep, and I heard shots. And like I was telling them a few seconds ago, I don't know if subconsciously I heard two or three prior, and then I woke up, and I heard two more. I don't really know how many shots per se were shot, so I'm not sure. But I heard maybe two or three. It's not characteristic of this neighborhood at all. It's very quiet. If the most noise you hear is cars with loud pipes or something going by. Now, Julia was working, according to her family, as an aid to people with disabilities. That's where she was coming from. She never made it home. She was, as is what they were expecting, to plan a big 40th birthday party for her next month when she turns 40. Now, instead of planning that party, her family's going to have to plan a funeral. Traveling to Ozone Park in Queens, a 36-year-old man was arrested after police say he threw Molotov cocktails at two separate houses of worship. The community reacting to these shocking acts of vandalism. Fox 5's Sharon Crowley is live outside a church in Ozone Park with what we've learned tonight. Sharon. Yeah, that's right, Steve. Just about this time last night is when a man came to the church, the Baptist church that you see behind me, and walked up to that gate and threw an explosive device at the front door. Take a look at the surveillance video that we have here, and you can see it all unfold. The video capturing the moment the man walks up to the gate outside this church and throws an explosive device that causes a fire and a spark. But luckily, the doors are made of metal and it did not burn down the church. Now, police say the same man did it again about a mile away at a Jehovah's Witnesses building. Now, police have arrested someone, but they haven't charged him with these crimes yet. We spoke earlier today with the pastor of this church. When I came here, I found out it was a Molotov cocktail, and thanks God no one was inside the church. There was no injury. Nothing major happened in the building. It's shocking because no one is expecting this, but we are not afraid. We want to continue with our normal services, and we want to continue serving to the community. And as you heard the pastor say, they are going to have services again. They will not be intimidated. Now, that suspect has not been charged with these crimes yet. He was actually facing a different case, and he was arrested outside of federal court on that case. But he could face federal charges, Steve, for these crimes if he is charged. Out on Staten Island, a stolen car plowed into a two-story home. Two people were arrested following that crash. Take a look at this. We're going to zoom into the damage left behind. Look at that vehicle. It went straight into the home. You could see all kinds of rubble. And what we can't see just out of the camera's view from this vantage point is that the front steps are completely destroyed. Now, a vacate order is on the door of that home. It's located at 2 Grasmere Avenue, right at the corner of Mosul Avenue here in Staten Island. This is a residential area. The FDNY confirming to Fox 5 News just a short time ago that a call for help went out just after 5 a.m. this morning. It was reported that a vehicle went into a house. No injuries related to this. Definitely good news when you look at this damage. The NYPD Telegraph news team, a 2012 Nissan Rogue, had struck the property, and the vehicle had been recklessly traveling in an unknown direction here in the area. Two people now in custody. According to the NYPD, each a person of interest, as this is now going to be an investigation. They're trying to find out exactly what happened. Sources telling Fox 5 News the vehicle is stolen. I talked to a man who says he owns the vehicle, and he realized it wasn't in his driveway this morning. He works for DOT. Some of his work gear was in the back of the vehicle. And basically, that's how he ended up here. He said he lives about 10 miles away. Listen to this. So this vehicle, your vehicle, is 10 miles from your home? Yes. So when you first saw it, how did you realize it was here? Did someone call you to come here? This didn't happen. And a whole bunch of people from work knew that it was my car. And they said, I think we found your car. Because I had all my DOT stuff in the backseat. So now you came here, you know it is your car. What are you thinking? I mean, just looking at it. It's totaled. That's it. That's another new car. That's it. Another pay, another bill. I mean, definitely something to take in if this is your vehicle. But just imagine if you live in here. And we did talk to those who live inside. They do not want to talk on camera. Understandably, Antoine, they are shocked. But again, nobody was hurt. And that is very good news to report. Again, when you look at all this. And finally, we leave the city for Yonkers, where a thief smashed into a family-owned grocery market and cleared out the cash registers and a safe containing thousands of dollars. The owner is sharing surveillance video that you'll only see here on Fox 5. Richard G. Kovas has their story. In just a few months, Tanji Arriaga planned to celebrate five years in business at her meat and grocery market. Now, she's not sure it will survive the week. It's a hard business to be in. It is. You know, and we give it our all. We put all our heart into it. Monday morning, Tanji's employees walked into La Hacienda and found both glass doors smashed, the registers emptied, and most of the owner's cash savings gone. I see the registers are opened. And I see the glass shattered all over the floor. And so then I realized we have a big problem. Surveillance video obtained exclusively by Fox 5 captures what appears to be a lone thief breaking in at around 2 a.m. that same morning. He guts the registers, then keeps moving. But here's what's stumping Tanji and her husband even more is that once that thief broke in and went to the registers, in less than four minutes, he ran towards the back of the store. He went through the blue doors into the kitchen. He went past the stove and all the way to the back door, where he must have known there was a safe. It was just so fast. It makes you think that it could be someone who knew. But it's hard to know. I mean, we're a small team. Everybody here is like family. Tanji says the safe held roughly $8,000 with payroll and Con Ed due this week. That missing money could force this family-owned staple to close for good. So it's a lot, you know? It's a lot, too. And you know what? We've been through a lot here. So we're just trying to keep moving forward. Customers know it, too. They're stopping by to hug Tanji and offer any help they can. And for this mom, a breast cancer survivor, she's leaning on her faith to get her through it. A tough blow for us. I know as a small business coming out of this is hard. And we want to be here and we want to stay. But it's a lot to consider. That's this week's Crime in the City, available on Fox Local, Spotify and YouTube.