The hooligan, who is said to have led to the tragic death of Excelnia Mette, a pillar of the beloved Harlem community, was released on bail in a novel case when the meaningless shooting unfolded, the Post learned.
Darious Smith, 23, was forced into a Manhattan courtroom in a wheelchair on Thursday, pulling a white Tyvek suit in his face as he faced suspects of attempted murder and criminal possession of a firearm for Mette’s death.
Sources said Smith is believed to have traded shots with the still large gunman who had hit the Mette in his head as he ran out selflessly to check on his grandson on Tuesday night.
Smith was shot in the foot during a brawl.
Manhattan Crown Court Judge Casey Larry ordered Smith to be jailed without bail.
“This is what makes our job even more difficult,” Mayor Eric Adams said at an event Thursday about taking illegal guns off the streets.
“When we allow people who are re-inflicting on the continued violence in our cities to continue walking the streets,” he said.
“The criminal justice system includes police, judiciary and lawmakers. They all have to work on the same path.”
Records show that Smith was arrested in June 2024 after trying to cut two people off with a box cutter on Lennox Avenue near West 118th Avenue and steal the battery on his e-bike.
When he was arrested on charges of robbery and assault, prosecutors in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office demanded bail on $50,000 in cash or $150,000 in bonds, records show.
But Judge Michael Ryan set it at $10,000. Smith posted it.
Smith lived just a block away from Food to Plez Deli of Momma Zee, former business of Mette, which was the city’s first black woman-owned bodega when it opened in the 1980s.
Lovers and neighbors gathered on Thursday at a makeshift shrine in front of Mette’s home on West 113th Street and Lenox Avenue.
They hung photos of Mette, whom they lovingly knew as “Momma Zee” or “Zeenie” frolicking on the beach.
Neighbor Barbara Johnson, 66, said she wasn’t surprised that one of the shooters was a repeatedly accused criminal.
“They need to do something for the young people, they need to continue occupying them, give them something to do and what they look forward to,” she said.
“Idol Hands is a demonic workshop.”
“The system devised to hold people down does nothing to help us. It’s from the beginning, the first day of this country.”
Speaking to PIX11 on Wednesday night, Adams denounced the criminal justice system for allowing Smith to be on the streets instead.
“Public safety is a criminal justice device that includes police, and includes lawmakers, including judges. The police do their job,” he said.
“Last year, when someone had repeated violence, he was arrested for robbery and stabbed two people. Now he’s back on the street and caught fire that took the lives of an innocent woman. We have to get other parts of the criminal justice system to do our job.”
City Councillor Yousef Salaam (D-Manhattan) represented the Harlem district and chaired the council’s public safety commission, issued a heartfelt memory of Mette and condemned violence for systematic failure.
“Harlem feeds the community, stands by the youth and gives tribute through his service with leaders such as the Rev. Al Sharpton and artist Jim Jones,” Salaam said.
“This act of violence — the consequences of our reckless, fatal conflict on the streets — is another painful reminder of us that we are in the midst of a public safety crisis,” he said.
“It’s a crisis rooted in not just crime, but a long history of investment, a lack of opportunity and systemic failure that continues to plague our neighborhoods.”
Other lawmakers who represent the area, such as Rep. Jordan Wright (D-Manhattan), who focused on gun prevention efforts, called “how essential it is to remove guns from our streets” a reminder.
“We have to fight hard together to find a solution,” state Sen. Cordelle Cleare (D-Manhattan) added in a statement.
“Now is not the time to cut resources.”
Video footage showed a man who fit Smith’s description mounted a scooter at a group of people, pulled a gun and fired two shots, a court paper said.
Police believe the second suspect grabbed his own gun, wounded Smith and fired a shot that killed Mette, law enforcement said.
Smith is said to have rode a scooter along West 113th Avenue before clashing with NYPD officers who tried to stop him.
He ran to St. Nicholas Avenue, where he threw a 9mm pistol onto the sidewalk.
Sources say eight bullets were found at the deadly shooting range.
Smith’s well-known criminal defense attorney, Dawn Florio, alleged in court that in addition to the gunshot wounds, four officers beat him with a gun and a taser.
She asks Smith to see a doctor and realizes that his shooting is causing problems for his loved ones.
“My client’s family, who lives nearby, is under threat,” she said.
– Additional reports by Vaughn Golden and Hannah Fierick
