A cocaine dealer was shot and stabbed more than a dozen times during a robbery at a Queens birthday party last weekend, police said.
Renner Zuniga, 35, who has been arrested 49 times, was arrested shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday at a second-floor apartment on 125th Street near 103rd Street in South Richmond Hill, authorities and sources said. Violence broke out, with three people being shot and eight others stabbed.
Zuniga, who had a history of mental illness and was arrested on gun and drug charges, was rushed to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he died from his injuries, police and officials said.
“This will be a drug-related robbery,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenney told reporters Tuesday.
“Apparently the apartment was some kind of hangout and hangout spot. The victim and seven or eight other men were there to celebrate a birthday.”
” [victim] “He does have a reputation as a cocaine dealer,” Kenney said.
“A fight actually broke out and the victim ran and locked himself in the bathroom and called 911. During the 911 call, you could hear the victim pleading. You hear gunshots. And it's believed to be a robbery.” His cell phone is missing.
Kenney said investigators believe both cash and drugs were stolen.
A resident of the apartment told investigators that he went outside to go to a store, but when he returned, no one was there except for the fatally injured victim.
A first-floor neighbor, Alexander Wilson, 51, told the Post on Tuesday that people ran screaming from the building after hearing gunshots.
“I was sleeping in my bedroom and all I heard was a pop,” Wilson said.
“There was a lot of noise.
He woke up a second time when Zuniga was carried downstairs on a stretcher.
“I looked out the kitchen window and he didn't look well,” Wilson said.
“That's terrible.”
Wilson said the victim did not live in the building.
“It was a bit of a shock when they took him out on a stretcher. I had never seen him before.”
Kenney said the apartment complex was known to be “problematic.”
“The neighbors are very aware of this,” he added.
“A lot of young people [go] They're there to hang out, drink loud music, and do drugs. ”
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenney said that although potential persons of interest have been identified in Zuniga's murder, no probable cause has yet been found to arrest them.
Officials said three 9mm shell casings and two live rounds were recovered at the scene.
