Long Island City man killed leaving party

A 30-year-old Long Island City man was shot and killed while leaving a party in his neighborhood. At about 5 a.m. on Sunday, January 27, Joseph Prince was found with a single gunshot wound to the head, and three shell casings from a .45-caliber handgun were discovered at the scene, police said.
Police believe that a fight erupted outside of the party place - La Familia Bar and Restaurant, located at 44-63 23rd Street - and Prince was killed.
As of Tuesday, January 29, there had been no arrests made in the case.
According to published reports, Prince was the father of two children -nine and seven-years-old - and worked in construction.
A police source said that Prince had an extensive criminal record, but Bishop Mitchell Taylor, the founder of the Center of Hope International, a church nearby to Queensbridge Housing Development, portrayed Prince as a kid singing in the church choir.
“He was a good kid and like most kids they sang in the choir and went on trips,” Taylor said, talking about a weekend excursion he remembered Prince participated in to New Orleans, LA. “I would say that Joseph as a kid grew up in the church.”
Prince’s grandmother, Joann, and mother, Elva, had been part of Taylor’s ministries since the mid 1980s, Taylor said, and a “home-going” service for Prince has been scheduled for Thursday, January 31 from 9 until 11 a.m.
Prince’s homicide was the first of the year in the 108th Precinct, according to CompStat crime statistics.