The Yakey Yakes was a 19th century street gang, prominent in New York's underworld during the late 1890s and early 1900s. Based in the neighborhood of Catherine and Madison Street

Madison Street (Manhattan)

Madison Street is a two-way thoroughfare in the Lower East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan that begins under the Brooklyn Bridge entrance ramp and ends at Grand Street. It is roughly sixteen large city blocks long. Due to security measures implemented after the September 11, 2001...

s, the gang were formed by Yakey Yake Brady in the 1890s and later participated in the gang war between Monk Eastman

Monk Eastman

Edward "Monk" Eastman was a New York City Gangster who founded and led one of the most powerful street gangs in New York City at the turn of the Twentieth Century, the Eastman Gang. His other aliases included Joseph "Joe" Morris, Joe Marvin, William "Bill" Delaney, and Edward "Eddie" Delaney...

 and Paul Kelly

Paul Kelly (criminal)

Paul Kelly was an Italian immigrant who founded the Five Points Gang in New York City after starting some brothels with prize monies earned in boxing...

.

Rivals of the Cherry Hill Gang

Cherry Hill Gang

The Cherry Hill Gang was a New York street gang during the late nineteenth century.Formed in the 1890s, the Cherry Hill Gang were known as the "dandies" of New York's underworld...

, eight members were arrested in connection with the murder of rival Jimmy Brennan on the night of January 11, 1905. One of the gang members, William "Nine-Eyed" Donnegan, later admitted to have taken part in Brennan's murder, shooting him three times. However, members Robert Ginan and John Dalton

John Dalton

John Dalton FRS was an English chemist, meteorologist and physicist. He is best known for his pioneering work in the development of modern atomic theory, and his research into colour blindness .-Early life:John Dalton was born into a Quaker family at Eaglesfield, near Cockermouth, Cumberland,...

 ("Kid" or "Brady") were held in custody while the others were released under subpoena

Subpoena

A subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...

s. Two others thought to be involved included Edward Lynch

Edward Lynch

Edward Francis Lynch was a private in the First Australian Imperial Force who saw action in World War I on the Western Front between 1916 and 1919. Following his return to Australia he wrote about his war experiences in the 1920s and 1930s...

, who was found earlier that night with a gunshot wound in the leg, and John Sullivan

John Sullivan

John Sullivan was the third son of Irish immigrants, a United States general in the Revolutionary War, a delegate in the Continental Congress and a United States federal judge....

, arrested in Jersey City for carrying a loaded revolver also suffering from a gunshot wound which had shattered his jaw.

Oak Hill police initially charged William Budd and James Galligan, who an eyewitness identified, ambushing Brennan at Catherine and Madison Street and killing him.