Mount Vernon shooting, crash victim former Concordia coach

MOUNT VERNON – A former Concordia College assistant basketball coach was one of the two men killed in a fatal crash early Wednesday that police are now investigating as a double homicide.

Kevin Shaw's death has shaken his former players and coworkers, Concordia College head basketball coach Brian Sondey told The Journal News on Thursday afternoon.

"Myself and our alumni are trying to wrap our heads around this," Sondey said of Shaw's death. "This was a young man who was motivated and passionate about life. What we can't get over was he was so young and had a future."

Shaw, 26, of the Bronx was the passenger in the car, Mount Vernon officials confirmed Thursday afternoon. They identified the driver as Allashun Clay, 27, of Manhattan.

The crash occurred about 4:45 a.m. when the 2012 BMW convertible the men were riding in struck a parked Dodge Journey and then flipped. The crash was at the intersection with Warwick Avenue, just west of a Hutchinson River Parkway off-ramp.

The BMW, with its top down, ended up upside down at the intersection of Warwick Avenue. The Dodge was pushed two parking spaces forward by the impact.

Mount Vernon officials said video from a nearby deli showed the car was traveling at a high rate of speed.

Mount Vernon Police Commissioner Terrance Raynor said at a City Hall press conference on Thursday morning that investigators later discovered both men had gunshot wounds to their "upper extremities." He would not specify where they were struck.

Raynor said the men were traveling on East Third Street when "at some point they were shot." Raynor said the medical examiner was seeking to determine whether the gunshot wounds or the crash killed them.

"Once the victims of the crash were removed from the vehicle the medical examiner determined that there was evidence that each of the individuals had suffered at least one gunshot wound," Raynor said. "Our investigators along with the Westchester County District Attorney's office are pursuing this case as a homicide."

He said police believe the incident was isolated. "They appear to be targeted," he said.

He said there were no reports at that time from citizens who heard gunshots in the area. Police are canvassing the area to try to determine whether any residents or businesses had useful surveillance video that would aid the investigation.

Friends used the hashtag #RIPKevShaw to remember him on Twitter and Instagram.

Sondey said he wasn't aware of the details behind Shaw's death. Shaw coached for Concordia College for the 2010-2011 season.

He had played basketball at the now-closed Rice High School in Manhattan, where he ran the floor with Edgar Sosa and Kemba Walker, who won a NCAA championship at the University of Connecticut and now plays in the NBA. Sosa played for the University of Louisville and in Europe. Shaw went on to graduate from Fairfield University with a bachelor's degree in finance and accounting.

Shaw also coached in 2009 and 2010 for the New York Gauchos, an elite amateur basketball program primarily for New York City players, according to his Concordia biography.

Sondey said Shaw left Concordia after a year to pursue a master's degree in business.

"Kevin had vision of getting into finance or sports management," Sondey said. "Players related to him because he also was young, enthusiastic and worked hard. He didn't want to put in the time required to make coaching a career. He wanted more."

That "more" included working for The Circle LLC, which bills itself as a sports and entertainment brokerage company.

Mayor Ernie Davis said the two men's deaths are the first homicides of the year in the city.

Mount Vernon police said the BMW was registered to Clay's Manhattan address.

Investigators are pursuing leads, as well as trying to determine where the men were throughout the evening and who they had been with during that time, he said.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Mount Vernon detectives at (914) 665-2510.