A band of baby-faced gangbangers who dubbed themselves “Road 2 Riches” allegedly shot an innocent 68-year-old woman, opened fire inside a bodega and brazenly boasted about murdering a rival gangster as they terrorized their Brooklyn neighborhood with gun violence, prosecutors said Thursday.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office and NYPD cracked down on nine members of the “Road 2 Riches” crew — who are all 20 years or younger — as they threw down a disturbing 68-count indictment on the pack of brutes on Wednesday.
The gangsters were allegedly behind ten different shootings over the past couple of years — at one point striking an innocent 68-year-old woman in hopes of taking out warring gang members in East New York and Brownsville, District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said during a press conference Thursday.
“And this kind of indiscriminate gun violence is what makes people in Brooklyn afraid, and this is why this indictment is so important,” the top Brooklyn prosecutor said, adding, “No one should have to live with the fear of bullets whizzing by them.”
In one brazen shooting, King Downing, 18, allegedly opened fire inside a bodega when he and other R2R members saw two unarmed brothers they believed were part of another gang walk inside in August 2023.
Victim Abdoulaye Ba, 24, was shot in the head and later pronounced dead, prosecutors said.
R2R was quick to celebrate the fatal shooting on social media.
“Your homie died, them shot on us,” an Instagram post said, while other posts bragged about “smoking” the victim, Gonzalez said.
“Now, typically, when someone commits a homicide or a murder, they don’t want to be identified as the person who did it,” Gonzalez said.
“But in this gang violence arena, people need to take credit for the shooting of rival gang members, and this is what you see here.”
In another shooting, DeAnthony Ortiz, 18, allegedly took aim and fired at two men in territory controlled by another gang in Brownsville in broad daylight.
The gunfire struck a 68-year-old woman who was simply trying to get home from grocery shopping in October 2023.
She survived the attack and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Other shootings involved injuring a 14-year-old boy, a perceived R2R enemy, in March 2023 and hitting two moving vehicles when gangsters allegedly shot at a possible rival on a scooter in April 2025, prosecutors said.
One car was an Uber that had a father and his two daughters inside. The trio and driver were unharmed when the bullet hit the front passenger’s seat.
Gangsters also shot at a group of people on another opponent’s turf, wounding a 23-year-old man in November 2024, according to prosecutors.
R2R has been at war with “Pistol Packin Pitkin” (PPP) and the “WOOO” and “CHOO” Folk Nation gangs, according to the district attorney’s office.
“They’ve been fighting with everyone,” Gonzalez said of R2R.
The nine suspects are facing a wide array of charges, including second- and fourth-degree conspiracy, second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and first-degree reckless endangerment, prosecutors said.
Mayor Eric Adams tore into the alleged gangsters and pleaded with city and state lawmakers to pass tougher laws that could help authorities clamp down on violent offenders.
“These nine gang members are really not only an indictment on their action, but it’s an indictment on our city,” Adams said.
“Younger and younger people are becoming victims of crimes and participating in crime.”
Downing, Ortiz, Mikeem Echevarria, 18, Jevonte Jaime, 17, Qvon Weaver, 19, Quinn Parker, 19, Anthony Wilkinson, 20, Korey George, 19, and Samuel Gaiter, 18, were held on remand or high bail, according to the district attorney’s office.
