“Momma Zee” may have vanished, but her memory will endure in Harlem.
On Friday, tears were abundant as friends and family gathered to pay tribute to Exia Mette, 61, the beloved owner of their neighborhood bodega.
The deeply emotional funeral not only commemorated Mette’s life but also drew attention to the senseless gun violence that robbed her from those who cared about her, including a nod to Mayor Eric Adams.
“She touched so many lives,” Sharpton expressed to the crowd packed into her home church, the Methodist Anglican Zion Church.
“Harlem holds you in our hearts.”
Draped in purple, Mette’s body rested on a floral-adorned metal casket.
A white carriage brought her casket back to the neighborhood she had embraced as home, originally hailing from Peoria, Illinois. Family members traveled from various places to attend her service.
Mette will be laid to rest on Lincoln’s land.
Reports suggest that just before her death, two young men, including 23-year-old Ricky Shelby, exchanged gunfire over a trivial dispute near Mette’s residence on Lennox Avenue and 113th Street.
Neighbor Foot, also known as Exenia Foot, was outside checking on his grandson when he heard the shots on April 22nd.
Police claim Mette was caught in crossfire and tragically struck in the head by one of Shelby’s bullets.
This tragic event shook Harlem, where Mette was seen as a community pillar, celebrated for her generosity, warmth, and involvement with Sharpton’s National Action Network.
In the 1980s, she became the first Black woman in the city to open a bodega with “Mamasie Food to Plez Deli.”
Comedian Solo Jones, 58, who was managed by Mette, revealed that his friend was acquainted with her assailant.
“Everyone knows him,” Jones stated. “They’re just kids from the neighborhood.”
“To be taken by someone you’ve helped…she has supported him many times…” he lamented, trailing off.
Mayor Eric Adams, who joined the memorial, noted that Smith, one of the shooters, had been implicated in a stabbing nearly a year prior to the shooting.
“This reflects years of discussions about a persistent cycle of recidivism,” he remarked.
Smith was released on $10,000 bail at the time of the incident where police allege he shot at several people on a scooter near West 113rd Street and Lennox Avenue.
Shelby, another individual allegedly involved, reportedly fired multiple shots, one accidentally hitting Mette in the head.
According to law enforcement and criminal records, Shelby had been arrested previously for a shooting that occurred just blocks from where Mette lost her life.
“She might have even fed the man who shot her—probably gave him clothes too,” Sharpton said. “So, we must not just react to this blind, senseless violence while celebrating her life and recognizing her impact.”
“If you need a gun to assert your manhood, you’re just a coward.”
