The accused Harlem smoke-shop shooter who allegedly gunned down two men in 27 hours this weekend was ordered held without bail Wednesday — as the store that he allegedly shot up continued to illegally peddle potent weed products.
Messiah Nantwi, a 21-year-old reputed gangbanger, was formally charged with two counts of second-degree murder at his Wednesday morning arraignment.
He was already out on bail for shooting at three NYPD cops two years ago, court records show. In light of that, Assistant District Attorney Danielle Turcotte asked at his arraignment that the court keep him behind bars.
“Based on the seriousness of the charges and the fact that the defendant committed these crimes while out on bail on another violent felony, remand is the least restrictive means to ensure the defendant’s return to court,” Turcotte wrote on the bail application.
Judge Melissa T. Lewis agreed, and sent Nantwi to Rikers Island.
He’s due back in Manhattan Criminal Court on April 14.
Authorities arrested Nantwi on Tuesday for allegedly shooting two men over the weekend: Brandon Brunson, a 36-year-old Brooklynite, and Jaylen Duncan, a 19-year-old alleged member of a rival gang.
Both killings appear to be bone-chilling, execution-style hits that police say were caught on camera.
On Sunday evening, Nantwi appeared to have words with Brunson inside a Harlem smoke shop, according to police and surveillance video obtained by The Post.
As Brunson turned and went to leave, Nantwi allegedly shot him in the back of the head. Brunson collapsed, but was still alive when Nantwi walked over, aimed again at the man’s head and fired another round, Turcotte wrote in the bail application.
Then he calmly walked out the door.
But that wasn’t Nantwi’s first killing — cops said he fatally shot Duncan the day before on the corner of Madison Avenue and East 132nd Street.
The Saturday afternoon shooting was done with the same weapon, which police said they found in Harlem around the time they arrested Nantwi.
Cops say he did Duncan the same way: Nantwi shot him at very close range, then stood over him and pumped more rounds into him as he lay defenseless on the street, Turcotte said in court papers.
Police said they have surveillance video of that shooting, too. And it “clearly shows [Nantwi’s] face,” Turcotte wrote.
Nantwi was also arrested in 2021 for allegedly shooting at three Bronx police officers who were trying to arrest him for spray painting graffiti. The young man fought back, then fired a .22 caliber handgun at the cops.
The unhurt officers returned a hail of bullets, shooting 31 times and seriously wounding the trigger-happy teenager.
He was charged with three counts of attempted murder on a police officer, but a judge eventually knocked his bail down to $300,000 — which let his family pull together the $30,000 necessary to free him.
Meanwhile, the Harlem smoke shop Nantwi allegedly shot up was back to selling weed products on Wednesday — even though the brazen Lenox Ave business doesn’t have a license to do so.
“We have edibles right now,” said the worker who was selling through a window. “We have gummies and punch bars.”
Additional reporting by Amanda Woods