By Courtney Dentch
The shooting arose from an incident earlier that afternoon, when Berry and Salley, each driving separate cars, nearly collided with each other at the same intersection at about 1:30 p.m., police said at the time of the killing.
The drivers, Berry in a dark gray or black old-model Honda Accord and Salley in a small white Honda, got out of their cars and started to scuffle, police said. People in the area came forward to stop the fight and both men left the area, police said. Berry was driving with a woman and a child, and Salley had a friend in the passenger seat, police said.
About a half an hour later Salley and his passenger drove by the corner and spotted Berry and a friend standing on the sidewalk, police said. Salley stopped his car to apologize for the earlier incident, but Berry yelled an insult and pulled out a handgun, allegedly firing several times at Salley, police said.
Salley was struck once in the left arm and the left side of the chest, and his lung and heart were perforated, police said. He was pronounced dead at Mary Immaculate Hospital. The passenger was not hit.
After viewing police photographs, both Berry's friend and Salley's passenger identified the shooter as Berry, police said. Attempts to arrest Berry at his last known address in South Jamaica were unsuccessful and the 113th Precinct, with the help of the 114th Precinct in Astoria, the Queens Homicide unit and the Fugitive Task Force, tracked him to Brooklyn, where he was arrested May 5, police said.
“He's been moving around, this guy, and they were just assisting,” a police spokesman said of the group effort.
Berry was arraigned in State Supreme Court in Kew Gardens last Thursday before Judge Lenore Gerald, who remanded him without bail.
Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at news@timesledger.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300 Ext. 138.
