Bronx —
The school stands out as a bright symbol of hope in a struggling Bronx neighborhood.
But that hope, as the brand-new Validus Preparatory Academy in Bathgate prepares for its first graduation, has been badly wounded by the murders of two of its students by stray gunfire in just half a year.
Martin Jackson, 18, was killed by stray gunfire in May in Crotona Park. Then on Nov. 15, Nadairee Walters, 17, of the same class, was shot outside a party after another teen opened fire.
Ironically, students and faculty said the two victims were very close friends.
“It goes beyond the loss of a student,” said Principal Brady Smith. “The two were members of the founding class and there was really a sense of family here. They were our pioneers.”
