The gunman suspected of fatally shooting a 1-year-old Brooklyn boy in the head as his father pushed his stroller across the street says he never meant to harm the child, and it was an "evil act" he now must live with.
"Remorseful doesn't even describe what I feel," suspect Daquan Breland, who was arrested in Pennsylvania Friday, the same day little Antiq Hennis was buried, told the Daily News from Rikers. "I could never do that to an innocent little baby. It's not in my heart."
NYPD officers and authorities with the U.S. Marshal Regional Fugitive Task Force apprehended the 23-year-old Breland, who is believed to be the shooter, in Wilkes-Barre, Penn., five days after the baby boy died, according to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
He was charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon and remanded without bail.
Daquan Wright, 19, was also taken into custody. Police believe he gave the gun used in the shooting to Breland.
The men waived extradition at a hearing and were taken back to New York. Wright was charged with criminal possession of a weapon.
From Rikers, Breland told the News he never meant to kill anyone and offered condolences to Antiq's family.
“I love kids, I wanted to be a father. Now there’s no time,” Breland, who can be seen with a neck tattoo that reads "family comes 1st" in a 2009 mugshot, told the paper. “I think about my present, my past, my future. I would’ve changed things beginning in elementary school. I would’ve taken a different path.”
“People see me as a cold-blooded killer. I’m not a baby killer, that’s not me," Breland added. "I'm not an animal. I'm not a monster."
At a funeral for the boy at Grace Funeral Chapels in East New York Friday night, some mourners expressed outrage at Antiq's father, Anthony, who police said has been uncooperative in their investigation.
Anthony Hennis walked into the open-casket funeral through a back door. Neither of Antiq's parents spoke at the service.
"It's just sad. Why, why an innocent child?" said Telfair-Clay. "Children should be able to live happy, normal lives, and it's really sad. It's a very sad thing when you have to bury a baby."
