By Courtney Dentch
A 21-year-old South Jamaica man was shot and killed near his home Sunday night, a day after trying to break up a fight between his ex-girlfriend and another girl, his sister said.
Jamal Gregory, of the Baisley Garden Apartments at Sutphin Boulevard and 125th Avenue, was one of 13 people killed around the city during the weekend, police said.
Another young man from southeast Queens was also killed Sunday. Ali Karon, 20, of 90-30 171st St. was found in front of his house just after 6 p.m. with stab wounds on his neck and torso, police said.
Gregory, who was working toward his general equivalency diploma, was hanging out with friends Saturday when the two girls began fighting, said Shakeema Adams, Gregory's sister. Gregory jumped into the fray to stop the fight between the two, one his ex-girlfriend and the other a teen who had a crush on Gregory, although it was unclear if he was the subject of the dispute, Adams said.
As Gregory tried to push one of the girls away, he put his hand on her neck and she yelled that he was choking her, Adams said. She kept screaming, threatening to get someone to kill him, she said.
The next day Gregory was sitting on a bench on 147th Street, behind his apartment building, when he was shot in the neck and the leg at about 8 p.m., police said. He tried to make his way home when he collapsed.
Gregory was taken to Mary Immaculate Hospital, where he died at 10 p.m., police said.
No arrests were made in the case, police said.
Gregory, a foster child who had lived with his adopted family since he was 3 years old, was “always helpful,” Adams said.
“He was not a bad guy,” she said. “If you asked him, he would help you.”
Gregory earned money baby-sitting in his apartment complex, but he had an interview for a job as a security guard scheduled this week, Adams said.
“He was trying to get his life together,” she said. “He wanted to do things right.”
When he was not baby-sitting, Gregory could often be found on the basketball courts in Baisley Pond Park across the street from his apartment, Adams said. He also loved music and wrote his own raps, she said.
Funeral arrangements were still being made Monday, Adams said.
Karon, the other Queens' weekend murder victim, was taken to Mary Immaculate Hospital, where he died about an hour after being stabbed, police said. No arrests were made.
Karon's family was unavailable to comment.
The deaths of the two men were among the latest statistics in the 254 murders committed in the city since the start of 2003, a slight increase of 5.4 percent over the same time period last year, according to police.
The spike in slayings coincides with preliminary information from the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, an annual study that showed New York City had the lowest crime rate in the 25 largest cities in the nation. The city ranked 203rd in a list of the 225 cities ranked in order of highest crime rates, according to the report.
Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.
