23 of NYCs most dangerous gang members off the street in Queens takedown

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Nearly two dozen of New York City’s “most dangerous” gang members were taken off the streets in a major bust sparked by the stray-bullet killing of an innocent Queens mom two years ago, authorities said Tuesday.

The tragic March 2021 death of 37-year-old mother of two Gudelia Vallinas — shot on her way back from shopping for her family — prompted an investigation that ultimately led to the 84-count indictment against 23 reputed gang members, according to prosecutors.

“Miss Vallinas is our American dream, whose life was suddenly halted due to gang members recklessly firing bullets, with total disregard of anybody around them,” Queens District Attorney Deputy Chief Jason Savino said, decrying the act of violence as “absolutely horrific.”

Vallinas, an immigrant from Mexico who cleaned houses for a living, was walking home on March 21, 2021, in Woodside when she was hit in the head by a stray bullet — in a shooting that authorities said was part of an ongoing war between two gangs.

The feud started in 2018 when the alliance between the two Crips gangs in Woodside and Astoria public housing developments fell apart over a drug deal.

Since then, the crews have repeatedly taunted each other on social media and in drill rap videos, leading to drive-by shootings on mopeds and brazen daytime gunfights, authorities said.

“The reckless criminality we saw during this investigation is the kind of lawlessness that has killed law-abiding citizens of New York that have been caught in the crossfire of gang violence,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said at a press conference announcing the indictment.

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The Astoria Houses set of Crips is the “Rolling Crips” — who rap under the name “Hip Hop Boys.” The Woodside Houses members, meanwhile, belong to the “8 Trey Crip” set and rap as the “True Cash Gettas,” according to the DA’s Office.

Savino said the indictment targets the “alphas” in the gang. Those charged range in age from 21 to 40.

Eighteen of the men face charges connected to shootings, prosecutors said. Fifteen face counts of attempted murder, while the rest were charged with conspiracy and other crimes.

“Our beautiful Queens is just a bit safer with some of the most dangerous individuals in all of Queens now in custody,” Savino said.

In one incident detailed in court papers, one of the Woodside Crips — Michael Shepherd, 27 — allegedly opened fire right next to an ice cream truck where a young girl was dancing just after 6:30 p.m. June 14, 2020.

Shepherd had stepped out of a bodega with a fellow gang member to confront a rival Astoria Crip, pulling a gun on him, the indictment states.

A day later, a trio of Astoria Crips — Jaheen Stephenson, 21, Tahji Alexander, 25, and Delante Aiken, 21 — walked into the Woodside housing complex and opened fire in the courtyard on the rivals in retaliation in front of other residents, including young kids.

One of the Woodside gang members, Devine Moore — and an innocent bystander — were shot during the gun battle.

Two months later, the crews again exchanged gunfire inside the Woodside housing complex as residents sat on benches with their young children playing on playgrounds, prosecutors said.

While no one was injured, the shooting sparked fear, sending innocent people running for their lives.

Two men, Benaiah Reid and Dajuan Williams, both 19 at the time, were charged over Vallinas’ death but not named in Tuesday’s indictment.

“Her greatest joy was her family,” her father-in-law told The Post of Vallinas shortly after her murder.

The loving mom was gunned down at Broadway and 48th Street, just half a block from the first-floor rowhouse apartment where she raised her daughter, 9, and son, 10, the family has said.

“Gangs plus guns equal graves and our goal is to be proactive, and not just one gun at a time but to take down these dangerous individuals who are carrying around guns,” Mayor Eric Adams said at the Tuesday press conference.

Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell vowed that city authorities “will be back with more cases and more arrests wherever violent criminals threaten our communities.”

“Other gangs who believe that they too could create a culture of fear in our city,” Sewell told reporters, adding, “those who believe that are wrong.”

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