Teen Arrested In Shooting Death Of LIC Man Walking Dog: Police

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — A 17-year-old boy was arrested on murder and weapon charges in the July shooting of a Long Island City man walking his dog, who died exactly one month after the bullet struck him in the stomach, according to police.

Police said Ravenswood Houses resident Ike Ford did not know George Rosa, the 54-year-old man who died Tuesday, a month after he was shot in broad daylight as he walked his dog along 40th Avenue.

Ford was initially taken into police custody Tuesday on charges of reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a loaded firearm, after the NYPD's ShotSpotter technology detected someone fire a gun near Queensbridge Houses that day, police said.

Witness descriptions of the gunman led NYPD officers to Ford, and police found a silver revolver in a nearby trash can.

Ford, a suspected gang member, was then tied to the July 25 shooting that eventually resulted in Rosa's death, a police source said. Police declined to identify the gang.

Ford and an accomplice, who hasn't been arrested, were aiming for a rival gang member from Queensbridge Houses at the time of Rosa's shooting, according to Queens prosecutors.

But the duo missed their target, and the bullet instead struck Rosa in the gut.

Rosa died at Elmhurst Hospital, after making it through surgery and fighting for his life for 31 days, police and prosecutors said.

“Tragically, a man is dead because he took his dog for a walk in his neighborhood, struck by a bullet intended for someone else," Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. "Every resident of every community deserves to be safe from the reckless gang violence that is fueled by access to guns.”

Katz's office said the teen, who is being charged as an adult, faces a sentence of up to 25 years to life in prison if he is convicted of the charges.