Artist busted painting tribute to slain NYC teen that featured bullets for birthday candles

California artist David Miklatski was arrested while painting an unfinished tribute to Javits Frimpong, a 15-year-old Bronx teenager shot dead on his way to school. The mural’s stark imagery divided local residents: some said the neighbourhood needed a portrait of the boy, while others supported the artist’s attempt to address the circumstances around his death.

Miklatski, who uses the name David Sabastian and has more than 460,000 Instagram followers, said Frimpong’s family approved the mural and its location near the shooting; the boy’s uncle confirmed the family wanted it. The work included chained heads, brains in a washing machine, chess pawns and a birthday cake with bullet-shaped candles. Police said officers arrested him on Wednesday and charged him with making graffiti and possessing a graffiti instrument after a church maintenance worker reported that the pastor had not given permission to paint the private building.