In the early hours of Sunday, August 17, 2025, the vibrant pulse of Brooklyn’s nightlife was shattered by a devastating mass shooting at Taste of the City Lounge on Franklin Avenue in Crown Heights. The crowded club, a hub of music and revelry, became the scene of chaos and heartbreak when gunfire erupted at 3:30 a.m., claiming the lives of three men and leaving nine others wounded. Among the fallen was Jamel Andre Childs, a 35-year-old known to many as “Melly Da Don,” whose story is one of both heroism and haunting ambiguity.
Jamel Childs was no stranger to the role of peacemaker. Friends and family paint a vivid picture of a man who instinctively stepped in to defuse tensions, a calming presence in the storm of heated moments. Rajawn Philips, a 49-year-old friend who works at a smoke shop next to the lounge, described Jamel as the kind of person who stood apart from the chaos. “He was a cool dude,” Philips recalled, his voice heavy with loss. “You know when you go to clubs, you got the crowd of knuckleheads? He’s the one on the side, saying, ‘Chill out. Stop that dumb stuff.’” On that fateful night, Jamel was true to form, attempting to quell a brewing altercation between two groups inside the club. It was a role he often played, a reflex born of his desire to keep the peace.
His brother, Richard Childs Jr., echoed this sentiment with a mix of pride and sorrow. “He was trying to stop a fight. That sounds exactly like him,” Richard said. “Jamel wanted to save the world. He wanted to save everyone.” Just months earlier, in June, Jamel had joined his mother to surprise his young niece at her graduation, a memory that now lingers bittersweetly for a family plunged into grief. “He’s a great brother, a great friend,” Richard added, his words a testament to a man whose warmth and generosity touched many.
But the story of Jamel Childs is not without complexity. As the investigation into the shooting unfolds, police sources have introduced a troubling twist: Jamel, along with a 19-year-old also killed in the gunfire, may have been among the shooters. The gang-related clash, which involved as many as four gunmen, left a trail of devastation, with one victim believed to be tied to the Folk Nation gang. The violence, Philips explained, stemmed from a two-on-two dispute that escalated despite Jamel’s efforts to intervene. “Those are people that have been beefing with each other for a while,” he said. “When the argument first happened, Jamel was the one that stopped it. They kept partying. Then it jumped off.”
The possibility that Jamel, the peacemaker, may have also taken up arms has left those who knew him grappling with disbelief. “I was not there and do not believe him to be one of the shooters,” Richard insisted, his faith in his brother unwavering. Jamel’s past, however, adds another layer to the narrative. Having been released on parole in 2023 after serving nearly eight years for a 2018 robbery conviction in Brooklyn, he was a man striving to rebuild his life, to be a force for good in a community often scarred by violence.
As the sun rose over Crown Heights that Sunday morning, the Taste of the City Lounge stood silent, its walls bearing witness to a tragedy that claimed three lives, including Jamel’s, a 27-year-old, and a 19-year-old. Nine others, caught in the crossfire, now carry the physical and emotional wounds of a night that began with celebration and ended in sorrow. The police continue their search for answers, piecing together the events that led to this deadly eruption. For now, the community mourns, clinging to memories of a man who sought to save others, even as questions linger about the role he played in his final moments.
Jamel Andre Childs—known as Melly Da Don—leaves behind a legacy as complex as the streets he walked, a man caught between the instinct to protect and the chaos that consumed him. His family grieves, his friends reflect, and Brooklyn holds its breath, hoping for justice and healing in the wake of a night that changed everything.
