Teen Gets 10 Years for Killing 11-Year-Old in Stray Bullet Shooting

Kyhara Tay was killed by a stray bullet. Her killer was sentenced yesterday. 

By Dan Gesslein 

Bronx Voice 

April 24, 2025 

BRONX - A teen gunman was sentenced to 10 years to life in prison for the stray bullet shooting of an 11-year-old girl - a murder that shocked a city. 

Triggerman Matthew Godwin, 18, was sentenced to 10 years to life in prison as part of a plea agreement. Godwin admitted to opening fire on a busy Bronx street in May 2022. One of the bullets struck and killed 11-year-old Kyhara Tay who was waiting for her friends outside a Bronx nail salon.

“Kyhara never had the chance to grow up. She was an innocent 11-year-old girl who was killed when the defendant, 15 years old at the time, started shooting at a 13-year-old boy,” said Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark. “(Kyhara’s) 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. Her family turned their pain into purpose by speaking out against gun violence. Through their voice, Kyhara’s legacy will live on.” 

An investigation by police revealed that Tay was gunned down during an attempted gang shooting from the back of a moving moped. 

At 4:48 pm on May 16, 2022, Tay was outside a nail salon on Westchester Avenue in the Longwood section. Omar Bojang, 21, who also pled guilty, was driving a motorized moped with Godwin on the back looking for a rival gang member. The pair spotted the 13-year-old target and Bojang drove the moped onto the sidewalk. Godwin turned from the back of the moped and fired off two shots. 

One of the bullets struck Tay in the stomach as she waited in front of the nail salon at Westchester Avenue and Fox Street. Tay would later die at an area hospital. 

During sentencing, Tay’s mother Yanisha Gomez, addressed Godwin. 

“This nightmare I do not wish upon anyone,” she said. “A mother should never feel this pain. An innocent child should never be taken away from a mother like this. I want to ask y’all, ‘Do you feel any remorse, regret, shame, guilt?”

Bojang pleaded guilty to first-degree Manslaughter on March 6, 2025, and will be sentenced to 15 years in prison and 5 years post-release supervision on May 14, 2025.