Teen Pleads Guilty to Gun Charges in East Harlem Grandma Slaying

An 18-year-old who was involved in a stray gunfire incident that killed a 69-year-old East Harlem grandma this past summer has pleaded guilty for his role in her death.

Robin Wright, a beloved grandmother, was standing on a street corner with her walker when she was killed by stray gunfire from a machine gun operated by the alleged killer, who with two accomplices was allegedly involved in a robbery of a neighborhood drug dealer.

On Tuesday, Nov. 25, Faisil McCants pled guilty before US District Judge Jed S. Rakoff to possessing and brandishing a machine gun in connection with an Aug. 27, 2025, daytime armed robbery and shooting in which McCants fired 15 rounds on a public street in East Harlem, striking and killing Wright.

Crime Watch reported this horrific incident at the time, noting it took place on Madison Avenue near East 110th Street, across from the Lehman Houses NYCHA projects, where Wright was a resident. McCants was arrested on Sept. 4, 2025.

McCants is scheduled to be sentenced on March 31, 2026.

“Nearly three months ago, Robin Wright’s life was cut short in what can only be described as a senseless, avoidable, and absolutely unacceptable tragedy,” said Homeland Security Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel.

“With today’s guilty plea, an admitted violent criminal will spend decades in prison with no choice but to relive the events—and the decisions—that landed him there, while an innocent woman’s grieving family prepares for their first holiday season without her. Protecting New Yorkers is non-negotiable, and HSI New York, alongside our law enforcement partners, will use every tool at our disposal in doing just that.”

As alleged in public court filings, statements in public court proceedings, and the charging documents in the case:

On or about Aug. 27, 2025, shortly before 12:30 p.m., McCants and two co-conspirators (“CC-1” and “CC-2”) robbed a drug dealer (“Individual-1”) near East 109th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan.

During the robbery, McCants and his co-conspirators got into a physical altercation with Individual-1 before both McCants and CC-1 grabbed backpacks from Individual-1—which contained marijuana—and then fled north on Madison Avenue, turning onto East 110th Street.

McCants pulled a black firearm (equipped with a machine-gun conversion device) out of his right sweatshirt pocket and fired 15 shots in quick succession in the general direction of Individual-1.

A 69-year-old woman (the “Victim”) standing with a walker on the northwest corner of East 110th Street and Madison Avenue—in the direction that McCants shot the firearm—was struck by gunfire. The Victim was transported to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

McCants, of Manhattan, pled guilty to one count of use, carrying, and possession of a machine gun, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The minimum and maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress, and any sentencing will be determined by the judge.

Little is known about McCants’s life other than his crime and his guilty plea. A sentencing letter from his attorney will likely change that—only then it will be too late.