[NYPOST] An ex-con was charged this week with gunning down a 15-year-old student athlete in East Harlem on Memorial Day, police said. Shane Lloyd, 33 — who is locked up at Rikers in connection to a September 2020 hit-and-run — was linked to the May 31 slaying of Amir James at Lexington Avenue and East 123rd Street, authorities said.
James, a student at Thurgood Marshall Academy, was out to pick up fried chicken with his sister and another relative around 10:30 p.m. when he was shot in the chest by the lone gunman, authorities said.
The teen was pronounced dead at Harlem Hospital.
It was unclear whether he was targeted or an innocent bystander. Another man, 30, was also shot in the knee.
Lloyd was busted on July 22 for allegedly tossing a firearm out of his car after striking another car and driving off on Sept. 13, 2020, cops said.
At the time of that alleged crime, Lloyd — who also uses the first name Antonio — was on post-release supervision in connection to a prior weapons possession conviction, state corrections records show.
Lloyd was released from prison in August 2019 after serving a three-year sentence for the weapons charge, according to the records.
Amir’s grandmother Rosemary West previously described him as a top student and a gifted athlete — particularly in football, basketball and kickball.
"Always called on him to get on the team because he was so good," she said.
Amir also loved to cook, she said.
"I taught him how to cook," West said, adding that they liked to make breakfast, peas and rice, potato salad and barbecue chicken together.
"He would have been a great person," West said the day after the slaying. "He was just starting out."
"There were so many things he wanted to do."