By Cynthia Koons
Eileen Acevedo, 34, of Bellerose, died Monday at 8:30 a.m. after the 4:30 a.m. shooting in the vicinity of Queens Plaza South and Crescent Street, police said.
“She was outgoing, friendly,” said John, a manager who requested his last name be withheld. “She was a great person, always cheerful, always smiling.”
No suspects had been arrested as of Tuesday afternoon, police said. An investigation was continuing.
Acevedo was a part-time employee who had been working at Scandals, 24-03 Queens Plaza North, for about six months before Monday's shooting.
John said that in the year he had worked at the club, he had not encountered that type of crime in the neighborhood.
“We were all in disbelief,” he said. “We're still shocked.”
Acevedo left the club after finishing her shift, just prior to the shooting.
She and two co-workers went to the Dunkin' Donuts across the street to get a cup of coffee and wait for a cab.
“When they came out, there was an argument against people outside and gun fight broke out,” John said. “She pushed two of the co-workers back into Dunkin Donuts and she wound up getting shot.”
He said the feuding gunmen had not been patrons of the club that night.
Scandals, which has been open for four years, is a topless club where Acevedo worked as a housemother.
“She overlooked the dancers and made schedules for the dancers – bookings and things like that,” he said.
He said she lived with her 10-year-old son in Bellerose. She is also listed by police as having an Orlando, Fla. address.
This is not the first time bullets have flown outside Scandals nightclub. In August 2002, a bouncer was shot in the hip during a dispute in front of the club.
The victim of that gunfight was treated at a hospital and released. Two suspects, from Ridgewood and Maspeth, were arrested in connection with the incident.
Scandals is situated alongside the entrance to the Queensboro Bridge in a neighborhood police and politicians have as consistently targeted as a hotbed of prostitution.
Reach reporter Cynthia Koons by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 141.
