NYPD: Teenager charged with murder after lesbian woman shot trying to protect husband

A teenager was arrested Thursday for the fatal shooting of a woman in her apartment building on Manhattan's Lower East Side. It is the second time this week that a teenager has been arrested in connection with deadly gun violence.

According to police, the 16-year-old was one of two suspected thieves who followed Ying Zhu Liu's husband into his building on the corner of Market and Madison Streets around 11 p.m. on September 9.

Officials said the suspects took the man in the elevator to the eighth floor of the building and tried to rob him. When Liu, 57, came into the hallway to intervene, one of the suspects shot her, police said, then fled with her husband's cellphone.

The 16-year-old arrested Thursday was charged with second-degree murder, robbery, burglary and illegal possession of a firearm. Police said he was taken into custody at 7:30 a.m. in the 5th Precinct, which includes the Two Bridges neighborhood, where the incident occurred.

His name was not released because he is a minor and information about his attorney was not immediately available. The other suspect in the incident has not yet been arrested.

Earlier this week, police arrested a 15-year-old boy for shooting 66-year-old William Alcindor in Queens. According to the Queens District Attorney's Office, the teen had been firing at a rival “gang” in a Popeyes parking lot. He missed his target and the bullets struck Alcindor as he drove past the crime scene.

The 15-year-old was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on Wednesday evening and a judge ordered him to remain in custody pending further proceedings, prosecutors said.

His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

According to police data obtained by Gothamist, teenagers have been arrested in 12 of 147 fatal shootings across the city this year. Last year, 15 teenagers were arrested in connection with fatal shootings in a total of 223 incidents.

This is a developing story and may be updated.