Albany teens plead guilty in shooting of boy, 3, at day care center – Times Union

Albany police descended on the city's South End after a 3-year-old boy at a daycare center was hit in the arm by a stray bullet fire during a shootout between masked men who jumped out of a car and other men on a street. — 1of7

Albany police descended on the city’s South End after a 3-year-old boy at a daycare center was hit in the arm by a stray bullet fire during a shootout between masked men who jumped out of a car and other men on a street.

Will Waldron / Times Union

Angel Maria Stokes,7, holds a sign with her brother Shy'reed Wofford as anti-violence activists hold a rally at Third Avenue and Elizabeth Street near where a sleeping child was hit with a stray bullet last week on Tuesday, July 23, 2019 in Albany, N.Y. Albany 518 SNUG organized the gathering. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union) — 3of7Angel Maria Stokes,7, holds a sign with her brother Shy’reed Wofford as anti-violence activists hold a rally at Third Avenue and Elizabeth Street near where a sleeping child was hit with a stray bullet last week on Tuesday, July 23, 2019 in Albany, N.Y. Albany 518 SNUG organized the gathering. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)Lori Van Buren/Albany Times Union

4of7Shawn Floss Cooks, outreach worker with 518 SNUG, leads chants as anti-violence activists hold a rally at Third Avenue and Elizabeth Street near where a sleeping child was hit with a stray bullet last week on Tuesday, July 23, 2019 in Albany, N.Y. Albany 518 SNUG organized the gathering. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)Lori Van Buren/Albany Times Union

5of7A bullet hole is visible in the rear of a Third Avenue home where a 3-year-old boy was shot in the arm with a stray bullet fired during a shootout on Friday, July 19, 2019, in Albany, N.Y. (Will Waldron/Times Union)Will Waldron/Albany Times Union

7of7Teunis Street and Third Avenue in the South End of Albany, N.Y. March 29, 2012. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)Skip Dickstein

ALBANY – Two city teenagers have pleaded guilty to their roles in a shooting that wounded a toddler sleeping in a South End day care center – and will remain free on bail until they are sentenced.

Jarrell Howard, 17, and Bahkee Green, 18, admitted to second-degree weapon possession during separate appearances before state Supreme Court Justice Thomas Breslin.

Howard, who pleaded guilty Tuesday, faces 10½ years in prison at his sentencing on April 14. Green faces seven years in prison at his sentencing on April 2. Both face five years of post-release supervision.

Earlier: Child, 3, hit by stray bullet in Albany’s South End

Churchill: When Albany children lie down to sleep

Both are free until their sentencings in the wake of the state’s bail reform, which requires judges to consider the least restrictive non-monetary conditions for defendants at bail hearings.

On July 18, Green and Howard, illegally possessed a loaded pistol near Teunis Street and Third Avenue, Albany County prosecutors said. They said the gun was fired and “bullets traveled though the exterior wall of a day care, striking a three-year-old child who was sleeping inside.”

The child survived. Howard was additionally charged with wiping away trace evidence from a vehicle used in the crime. And he was charged in connection with a July 2 shooting on Third Avenue. His guilty plea covers both cases.

The wounding of a child led to protests in the neighborhood and demands for greater public safety.