2 Arrested in Killing of High School Basketball Star

Police have arrested two suspects in the killing of a high school basketball star who was shot in the housing project where she lived.

Eighteen-year-old Tayshana Murphy was gunned down at about 4:15 a.m. Sept. 11 in the Grant Houses in upper Manhattan.

Robert Cartagena and Tyshawn Brookington were arrested Wednesday in Columbia, S.C.

Police said last week they were seen on surveillance video with guns in their waistbands.

Murphy was in her senior year at Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers and was a nationally ranked guard on the girls basketball team.

Witnesses said they believe the gunmen mistook Murphy for someone who had been involved in an assault earlier Sunday, and that she was trying to outrun a gunman in a hallway when she was shot.

Nicknamed "Chicken," Murphy was one of the top girls basketball players in New York City.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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