During a robbery at a Queens birthday party over the weekend, police shot and stabbed a cocaine dealer nearly a dozen times, killing him.
Investigators and sources report that just after 3 a.m. on Sunday, violence erupted inside a second-floor apartment on 125th Street near 103rd Avenue in South Richmond Hill, wounding Lenner Zuniga, 35, who had 49 prior arrests.
Zuniga, who had previously been arrested on gun and drug charges and had a history of emotional disturbance, was brought to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he died of his injuries, according to cops and sources.
“This is going to be a robbery, possibly narcotics-related,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Tuesday.
“Apparently, the apartment is a flophouse, a hangout spot.” The victim and seven or eight other males are there to celebrate a birthday.
“The [victim] does have a reputation of being a cocaine dealer,” according to Kenny.
“A fight breaks out, and the victim flees to the bathroom, locking himself inside and calling 911. Throughout the 911 call, you can hear him pleading. You can hear the gunfire. Experts believe it to be a robbery. His phone is missing.
Kenny reports that investigators suspect the theft of cash and drugs.
According to sources, the apartment occupant informed detectives that he left to go to the store and returned to find everyone gone except for the mortally injured victim.
First-floor neighbor Alexander Wilson, 51, told The Post on Tuesday that he heard a gunshot and then heard people shouting as they rushed out of the building.
“I was in my bedroom sleeping and the only thing I heard was a pop,” Wilson told me.
“There was a lot of noise.”
He awoke a second time as Zuniga was brought downstairs on a stretcher.
“I looked out the kitchen window and he didn’t look good,” Wilson told me.
“It’s terrible.”
According to Wilson, the victim did not dwell inside the building.
“I was amazed when they brought him out on a stretcher. I’ve never seen him before.
The flat is known to be “problematic,” according to Kenny.
“Neighbors are very familiar with it,” he told me.
“A lot of young people [go] there to hang out, listen to loud music, and use drugs.”
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny has identified a strong person of interest in Zuniga’s death, but there is currently no probable cause to arrest them.
Sources report that the scene collected three 9mm round casings and two live rounds.
