NYC bodega worker fatally shot in broad-daylight attack — over argument about cigars: heartbroken mom
A Brooklyn bodega worker was fatally shot in the back of the head Monday afternoon after apparently refusing to give away a free cigar to his killer, cops and the victim’s grieving mother said.
The 37-year-old victim, identified as Nazim Berry, was gunned down outside Amin Deli at 801 Franklin Ave. in Crown Heights, where he worked as a clerk, police and union officials said.
The confrontation began inside the store when the suspect asked Berry for a Black and Mild cigar without paying, the slain worker’s mom, Danette Hollie, told reporters near the crime scene.
Berry “said no and they started to argue,” Hollie, 58, said.
She said she was told the suspect fled the store, but returned shortly after with a gun and got into a scuffle with her son outside the bodega around 4:15 p.m.
“They said that they tussled … and the guy pointed the gun right to the side of his head, the back of his head, he shot him,” she said.
Berry was rushed to Kings County Hospital Center where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.
One person fled on foot following the cold-blooded killing, cops said. No arrests have been made.
Hollie said her son worked at the bodega for a long time, and had previous trouble with customers expecting free items.
“I knew that it had to be over something stupid because I know his heart,” she said, calling her son a “beautiful person.”
Berry had schizophrenia, and had a case worker who would check in on him, Hollie noted.
A union for bodega workers announced it was offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.
United Bodegas of America (UBA) spokesperson Fernando Mateo said the fight between the shooter and Berry started inside the store and spilled out onto the sidewalk.
“Took a young life for no reason whatsoever over an argument, over a quarrel over a cigar,” Mateo said during a Monday night press conference. “I mean, it shouldn’t have happened and it did.”
The UBA rep called on Big Apple judges and prosecutors “to do their jobs” and hold criminals more accountable for the safety of bodega workers.
“We are at wits end,” Mateo said. “New York is not what it used to be.”
“We need to take our city back,” he added. “Bodega owners are afraid, they fear for their lives.”
