The shooting happened around 3:15 a.m. on March 14 in…
By Chris Fuchs
A Queens man has been charged with murder in the death of his 22-year-old wife, who was found shot in the head in the parking lot of her Holliswood Coop last week, the Queens district attorney said.
The shooting happened around 3:15 a.m. on March 14 in the parking lot of Hilltop Village Coop No. 4, on Francis Lewis Boulevard and 204th Street in Holliswood, said Detective Carolyn Chew, a police spokeswoman.
Kimberly John was shot between two and four times as she sat in her car, parked in spot 10, the police and the president of the coop, Marc Haken, said. A man who lives in an apartment about 70 feet away rushed outside after hearing the gunfire, Haken said, and called the police. John, 22, was pronounced dead on the scene, the police said.
The woman’s husband, Billy Cooper of Hollis and another man, Lenwood Evans of Springfield Gardens were arrested last Thursday and charged with second-degree murder, according to a complaint filed by the Queens district attorney. A third man, Fredrick Hamlet, was also charged in the woman’s death, but only with tampering with physical evidence.
The complaint said Cooper, 28, who had married John several weeks ago, and Evans, 23, both shot John, and then hid the weapon. Hamlet was said to have admitted involvement in concealing the weapon, according to the complaint. Both Cooper and Evan were parolees, the police said, but it was unclear what crimes they had committed. A spokeswoman for the state Parole Board did not return two messages seeking comment.
According to the New York Post, John was in a relationship with a co-worker at Verizon, where she was employed as a customer service representative. Several weeks ago, the newspaper said, John married Cooper but then left him for the co-worker.
Reach reporter Chris Fuchs by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 156.
