UWS Teen Killed By Abusers Was In A 'Living Hell', Prosecutors Say

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The final days of 15-year-old Jallen McConnie's life were made a "living hell" by adults whose brutal and ultimately fatal abuse landed them in criminal court on manslaughter charges this week, according to prosecutors and court records.

New details emerged Wednesday at an arraignment at Manhattan Criminal Court that upgraded charges for Mitchaux Booker — initially the only person arrested for Jallen's death — and added charges for Johnette Booker and Joevon McConnie, the Manhattan District Attorney's office announced.

"The defendant and others made the last month of Jallen McConnie’s life ... a living hell," said Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg. "He was physically and psychologically tortured."

Jallen, 15, was found dead on June 28 in a bathtub at the Wise Towers apartments on West 94th Street, prosecutors said.

The boy's body was covered in cuts and bruises and multiple organs had hemorrhaged from the physical abuse Jallen received at the hands of the accused, prosecutors said.

Jallen's "living hell" began after his mother died and he moved from his sister's house in Georgia to live with his cousin Mitchaux Booker in May 2021, prosecutors said.

The teenager was denied any "fun activities," rarely received permission to leave the apartment, and was forced to do hours of physical exercise — or stand facing the wall, according to Wednesday's arraignment.

Video found on Johnette Booker’s phone showed her berating Jallen as he stood touching his toes in a corner and then screaming as he scrubbed the floor on his hands and knees, prosecutors' bail application notes.

Jallen had significant learning disabilities which made it difficult for him to do basic math, which prosecutors said enraged his alleged abusers on the last day of the teen's life.

McConnie and Booker beat Jallen with belts — Mitchaux confessed he may have struck him at least 50 times — once with enough force to break one belt in half, court documents show.

In Jallen's final hours, prosecutors said the boy whimpered and Johnette laughed.

Cops arrested Mitchaux two days after Jallen's death and Johnette and Joevon McConnie in recent months, after investigators discovered they also had beaten the teenager on the day he died, court records show.

Mitchaux and Johnette Booker were charged with manslaughter and all three face charges of assault, gang assault and endangering the welfare of a child, according to court records.

"The defendants knew full well what caused Jallen McConnie’s injuries and death," Blumberg told the court. "They were active participants in the senseless beatings that occurred shortly before his life was so prematurely cut short."