A 17-year-old gang banger from the Bronx who’s been arrested 20 times is the poster child for all that is wrong with the Raise the Age law, police sources said.
The latest arrest for drill rapper Julian Turner — who was busted at 14 for shooting a man — came Oct. 10, when he was nabbed for alleged gun possession on a subway platform in Penn Station, according to court records and police sources.
“You have a 17-year-old kid who tried to kill people with a gun and is still walking around with guns,” said a Manhattan police officer. “What do you think he’s going to do with a gun? He’s going to kill somebody.”
Julian Turner, 17, was arrested most recently on Oct. 10 at Penn Station in NYC after he was busted with a loaded gun, according to a court document. Obtained by the NY PostAll of Turner’s arrests have occurred in the wake of the lefty April 2017 legislation, which raised the age of criminal responsibility to 18 in an attempt to keep children out of the criminal justice system and out of jail.
But the legislation hasn’t helped rehabilitate Turner, an alleged “Young Gunnaz” gang member, and “I’m not a baby” drill rapper, who performs as Baby B-Dot, according to officials and police sources.
“Raise the Age does not allow the judges to use prior history when determining what to do with these kids,” said retired NYPD Assistant Commissioner of Youth Services Kevin O’Connor.
“Here he is at 17 — a career criminal,” O’Connor said. “Raise the Age allows this to happen. How many people have to get shot or killed before they change the law?”
Julian Turner, who raps under the name B-Dot, allegedly shot a man from the back of a scooter when he was 14, officials said. baby_bdot/instagramTurner — currently on parole for his juvenile offenses until August 2026 — was on a subway on the A/C/E line at Penn Station just before noon last week when an MTA worker noticed him and another teen flashing gang signs, the police sources said.
The engineer also saw Turner fidgeting with something in his waistband and notified cops who were on the platform, the sources said.
The officers questioned the teens but when they tried to search Turner, he allegedly resisted and began wrestling with them on the platform, which was captured on police body camera footage, the sources said.
Cops eventually found a loaded handgun with a defaced serial number, according to a criminal complaint.
Turner was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and resisting arrest, according to the record. He was held in lieu of $75,000 cash or $175,000 bond, prosecutors said.
On Sept. 2, Turner allegedly snatched a 32-year-old man’s cell phone at gunpoint in front of 1702 Grand Ave. in Morris Heights, the sources said.
The teenager was charged with robbery and criminal possession of a weapon, the sources said.
Turner, who performs drill rap, was arrested for the first time when he was 10 after pulling a fake gun and threatening to shoot two kids, according to police sources. baby_bdot/instagramTurner began his life of crime when he was just 10, police sources told The Post.
On Dec. 19, 2018, he allegedly pulled a fake gun out of his waistband and threatened an 11-year-old and a 13-year-old, the sources said. “Why are you on my block? Do you want me to shoot you?” he asked them, punching the younger child in the face, the sources said.
When cops arrested Turner, he allegedly had a knife and was charged with menacing, assault and criminal possession of a weapon, the sources said. The outcome of the case wasn’t available because he was under 18.
The following year, on July 3, 2019, the menace allegedly slashed a 14-year-old’s ear with a boxcutter in Kingsbridge, the sources said. The outcome of the case wasn’t available because he was under 18.
Turner has 20 prior arrests on his record, documents show. baby_bdot/instagramAbout two months later, Turner, who also goes by the alias “Little Billy,” was arrested on Aug. 31, 2019, for allegedly stabbing a 71-year-old woman in the hand in Kingsbridge, police sources said. Then 11 years old, Turner was traveling past vendors on a scooter when he grabbed an item off a table. He allegedly charged at a woman who scolded him and cut her left palm with a knife, the sources said. The outcome of the case wasn’t available because he was under 18.
At age 14, Turner allegedly opened fire on a Dunkin’ Donuts from the back of a scooter on Sept. 19, 2022, officials said. The bullets struck the window at the restaurant at 5501 Broadway in Kingsbridge, then Chief of Detectives James Essig said at the time without naming the teen. Nobody was injured. The outcome of the case wasn’t available because he was under 18.
Turner hit his target a few days later on Sept. 25, when he allegedly shot a 20-year-old man in the leg from the back of a scooter in front of a Kingsbridge Heights restaurant, Essig said. “Eighteen (arrests)… He’s 14-years-old,” Essig lamented at the time of the gang shooting.
Hit with attempted murder and criminal possession-of-a-weapon, Turner was sent to a juvenile detention facility, officials said. It wasn’t clear how long he was there or when he got out, as juvenile records aren’t public.
“There’s no accountability with Raise the Age,” O’Connor said. “How many times is it going to take? How many people have to get shot or killed before they change the law.”
Turner’s lawyer couldn’t be reached.
