By Dustin Brown
An employee of the Wendy’s restaurant at 138-41 Jamaica Ave. was murdered in the basement of his home Friday evening, less than 12 hours before a man fatally shot himself in the parking lot of the same restaurant following an attempt to rob a nearby check-cashing store, police said.
The two incidents apparently were unrelated.
Kadir Mohamed, 21, was found dead in his basement apartment at 138-46 91 Ave. at 11:15 p.m. Friday, after having been shot three times in the head and once in the body, said Officer Chris Kottingham, a police spokesman.
“The unfortunate incident occurred in his home, so we have no information, nor do we have a comment on it because obviously it’s an ongoing investigation,” said Mike Dell’Angelo, the chief operating officer of Briad Wenco, which owns the franchise rights to several Wendy’s locations. “We’re saddened by it, of course, because he was an employee and a friend to many of the people who work there.”
According to Detective Bernard Porter of the 103rd Precinct, Mohamed rented the basement apartment from the landlord and his family, who did not socialize with the victim.
“Pretty much as far as they knew he went to work, he came home, sometimes he went out. Not much more than that,” Porter said.
Neighbors described the landlord as an elderly man of Indian origin who lived in the home with his daughter, her husband, and their baby.
“They didn’t talk to anyone,” said one neighbor. “They made friends with no one. A lot of neighbors around here are like that.”
Although neighbors said the drug trade has driven up local crime in recent years, this was the first time anyone had heard of a murder in the area.
“In the time we’ve lived here, nothing never happened like that,” said another neighbor, who has lived with her husband in a nearby house for 15 years.
Porter said the NYPD is requesting assistance from the public in solving the case. A reward of up to $2,000 is being offered for information leading to an arrest. Anyone with information should call 1-800-577-TIPS.
The second incident occurred nearly 12 hours later in the parking lot of the same Wendy’s where Mohamed was an employee.
After producing a gun and slipping a robbery note to an employee at Harjo Check Cashing at 90-44 Parsons Blvd. Saturday morning, the suspect fled in a cab without taking any money with him, Officer Cheryl Cox said.
When police caught up with him at the Wendy’s parking lot 15 blocks down Jamaica Avenue, he stepped out of the cab and shot himself in the head. The suspect, whose identity is not being released pending notification of family, was pronounced dead at Mary Immaculate Hospital.
Members of the restaurant’s staff had no comment on either incident.
These incidents occurred within a year of another tragedy that resulted in multiple deaths at another Queens Wendy’s.
In May five workers at a Wendy’s in Flushing were murdered and two others were wounded after two gunmen entered the Main Street restaurant with the intention to commit a robbery, Queens DA Richard Brown said. The workers were led into the basement, bound and gagged, and shot-execution-style.
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
