Brooklyn Lady Shot Dead After Asking Neighbor Not To Set Off Fireworks

A Brooklyn woman who followed Borough President Eric Adams’ advice for New Yorkers to settle disputes neighbor-to-neighbor rather than calling 911 wound up shot dead after she confronted some punks setting off illegal fireworks, the victim’s grieving mom said.

Shatavia Walls, 33, was blasted eight times in an East New York public housing complex on July 7, simply for asking the fiends to take their dangerous display away from a group of playing kids — exactly how Adams had urged constituents to act in the face of the pyrotechnic plague.

“She watched the news. Yes, she heard it,” Helen Testagros, Walls’ heartbroken mother, told The Post on Sunday, referring to Adams’ advice. “It was probably in the back of her mind.”

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Amid increasing complaints of illegal fireworks detonations, Adams on June 21 said people should talk to their neighbors about the “nonviolent act,” rather than call the authorities and risk a “heavy-handed” police response.

But Testagros said that to take that approach on the mean streets is to take your life into your own hands.

“It’s not a good idea. You don’t know who you are approaching,” she said. “These kids are not respectful anymore. … They’re more ruthless.”

Walls found that out the hard way on July 4, Testagros said.

While visiting her mom, siblings and extended family in NYCHA’s Pink Houses, Walls was troubled by a group setting off fireworks in a playground on the sprawling development as young children played just feet away, Testagros said.

A “scuffle” ensued, and one of the creeps chased Walls into her mother’s building, pulled out a gun and fired a single shot at her, according to Testagros.

The round missed Walls, who had the presence of mind to scoop up both the shell casing and the New York state driver’s license of the alleged gunman who dropped it while fleeing, Testagros said.

Walls called 911 to report the attack, and supplied police with the name, home address and physical description of her alleged assailant, based on the ID she recovered, Testagros said.

The Post is withholding the identity of the man, an alleged gangbanger, because he has yet to be arrested, charged or formally identified as wanted.

An NYPD spokeswoman on Sunday disputed that account, saying the department only became aware of the July 4 incident during an investigation into a second run-in on July 7.

In that encounter, an undeterred Walls and pal Kelvin Hernandez again asked a band of fuse-lighting fiends to scram from the playground around 8:30 p.m., according to police sources.

That group didn’t include the man who’d previously shot at Walls, but one of them went to retrieve him and he came running, Testagros said.

“He was chasing her, hopping over the gates, shooting,” said Testagros.

After one round found its target, the gunman moved in for the kill.

“He walked over,” said Testagros. “She was on the ground shot. And he kept shooting until the gun went ‘click, click, click,’ ” signifying an empty clip.

Walls, a home health aide and cleaner who worked at Port Authority Bus Terminal, was struck eight times — but at first survived.

Both she and Hernandez, who was also shot, were hospitalized, and identified to cops the man responsible from their beds, Testagros said.

While Hernandez recuperated, Walls succumbed to her wounds late Friday at Brookdale Hospital.

In a statement, Adams, a presumptive 2021 mayoral candidate, extended his sympathies to Walls’ family and decried the city’s spike in gun violence but didn’t fully dismiss his neighborly approach.

“My heart goes out to the family of Shatavia Walls on this horrific incident,” he said. “Gun violence has hurt too many innocent people in our city, from 1-year-old Davell Gardner to this dynamic young lady. Dangerous people are shooting innocent people for senseless reasons. I renew my call for cracking down on the scourge of illegal guns.

“Our call is to continue building an ecosystem of public safety that includes community response and police,” he continued. “Whenever someone exhibits violence, we should call the police, but whenever we can communicate peacefully with our neighbors, we should do so.”

Testagros too bemoaned the grip of gangs and guns on city streets.

“It’s all about project fame for them. Quick to shoot,” she said. “They don’t care about your life.

“This is a train coming down,” she continued, referring to the proliferation of gun-toting gangs. “You gotta stop them. It’s going to get worse.”

The killer remains in the wind.

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