Sorrowful Brooklyn sendoff for aspiring model killed in Home Depot parking space feud
The devastated boyfriend of a woman gunned down over a Brooklyn parking space wept Saturday at her funeral, recalling the victim as his “best friend in the world” at a heart-breaking sendoff for the aspiring model and singer.
“She was all I had. She was my support system.” said teary Cordel McDuffie, who was shot in the leg and back in the Home Depot parking lot where his love Imani Sharpless was killed by a bullet to the head from a stranger. “I’ve been through so much in my life, and Imani understood. She really helped me out.”
McDuffie, 36, who arrived on crutches and wore a leg brace, was joined at the homegoing service by scores of mourners, many dressed in shades of pink to honor Sharpless’ favorite color inside the New Frontier Baptist Church in Ocean Hill, Brooklyn.
Modeling photos of the victim were placed near a white casket draped with pink, magenta, salmon and fuchsia flowers for the standing-room only two-hour service, and McDuffie wore a pink blazer to the church.
The victim’s mom Alverna Sharpless, backed by an organ and drums, brought the mourners to their feet in cheers while singing a hymn for her lost child.
“My daughter was a blessing,” she said at the service filled with relatives who came from near and far. “God gave me her as a gift. I lost my brother in the same way I lost my daughter, with a bullet to the head, and it’s been a bullet to my heart.
“I am struggling, I am hurting,” she continued. “Last night I wrestled with the devil, but I won.”
Sharpless, 26, was fatally shot Sept. 9 after a dispute between the killer and the couple over an open parking space at the Home Depot in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Sharpless and McDuffie were set to grab the spot when the gunman attempted to do the same. A verbal altercation ensued, with McDuffie giving up the space and heading inside to do some shopping.
When he returned, the other driver was lying in wait and opened fire on the couple, killing Sharpless. The shooter was still at large on Saturday.
“She was peaceful, she was graceful,” said Imani’s cousin, Pastor Dr. Martin Pickett, in his eulogy. “She had style, she was kind, and she thought she was cute. And she was … Imani made the best of time. She not only made the best of time, she had a good time.”
He recounted a recently family reunion in Baltimore for a graduation party where Imani teased him for not knowing how to play cornhole.
Though no arrest was yet made in the killing, the NYPD said last week that investigators have a prime suspect.
Police recovered the murder weapon along with the clothing worn by the shooter, who ditched his outfit inside a dumpster as he fled the crime scene — leaving his pricey Mercedes Benz behind in the parking lot.
“While she was here, she made an impact,” said Jessica Vaughn, Imani’s youth pastor and a family friend since she was an infant. “I don’t know if she made an impact in your life, but she definitely made an impact in mine … This is a hard one. This is a tough pill to swallow.”
