Hooligan whose alleged gunfight led to death of Harlem community pillar Momma Zee was out on bail in slashing case

A hooligan whose reckless gunfight allegedly led to the tragic death of beloved Harlem community pillar Excenia Mette was out on bail in a slashing case when the senseless shooting unfolded, The Post has learned.Darious Smith, 23, pulled a white Tyvek suit over his face as he was pushed in a wheelchair into a Manhattan courthouse Thursday to face charges of attempted murder and criminal possession of a firearm for Mette’s death.Sources said Smith is believed to have exchanged shots with the still-at-large gunman whose stray bullet hit Mette in the head as she selflessly rushed outside to check on her grandson Tuesday night.Smith was shot in the foot during the scuffle.Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Kacie Lally ordered Smith to be jailed without bail — an outcome he dodged the last time he stood accused of a violent crime.“This is what’s making our job harder,” Mayor Eric Adams said Thursday during an event about taking illegal guns off the streets.“When you allow those who have recidivism, continuous violence in our city to continue to walk the streets,” he said.

“Criminal justice system includes police, judiciary, and legislators.They all must be engaged on the same path.”Records show Smith was arrested in June 2024 after he allegedly slashed two people with a box cutter on Lenox Avenue near West 118th Street while he tried to steal e-bike batteries.When he was arraigned on robbery and assault charges, prosecutors in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office requested bail at $50,000 cash or $150,000 bond, records show.But Judge Michael Ryan set it at $10,000, which Smith posted — allowing him to walk free ahead of his scheduled May trial, sources said.Smith lived just a block away from Mette’s former business, Momma Zee’s Food to Plez Deli, which was the first black woman-owned bodega in the city when she opened it in the 1980s.Loved ones and neighbors gathered Thursday at a makeshift shrine in front of Mette’s home at West 1...