By craig giammona
A Jamaica man was charged with murdering the 29-year-old mother of his two children Thursday after a daylight shooting on 179th Place, a normally quiet block off 110th avenue in the Addisleigh Park section of Jamaica. Police apprehended Christopher Cephas, 42, of 110-10 179th Place just minutes after the shooting and charged him with the murder. Police recovered a .38 caliber revolver and said Cephas, who was found on the corner of 179th Street and 114th Avenue, is being charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. Police reported that the victim was shot numerous times.
Neighbors said the couple was married, but had been estranged since late December. A man who identified himself as Cephas' brother said the couple had been “going through problems.”
“I told him to leave her alone,” Cephas's brother could be heard telling detectives.
The couple's children were ages 2 and 6, according to police sources.
The victim, whose name was not released, was pronounced dead at the scene after her body was discovered on the side of the two-family brick house where neighbors said she once shared an apartment with Cephas.
A 31-year-old neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said that the victim had moved out of the apartment after the couple had a fight around Christmas time. The couple shared an apartment in the house, the neighbor said, and a baby sitter lived downstairs. Despite her estrangement from Cephas, the victim, the neighbor said, would visit the house frequently to pick up her two children.
It was unclear what brought the victim to the Cephas's apartment Thursday but a resident of Sayres Street, just across from the crime scene, said she heard screaming and then three gun shots, shortly before 3 p.m. Workers at a Verizon Wireless repair garage on 110th Avenue said they didn't hear anything, but said that several police cars arrived just after 3 p.m.
The people reached for comment in the area Thursday all said that 179th Place and the surrounding blocks were typically quiet.
“Most of the people here die of natural causes,” said the 31-year-old neighbor. “There's not a lot of crime here. On the other side of Linden (Boulevard), yeah. But not over here.”
