By Howard Koplowitz
A young Cambria Heights man was murdered outside a St. Albans home that was hosting a party that went into the wee hours of Saturday morning and police are still searching for his killer.
A 17-year-old was also critically wounded in the incident, police said.
Robinson Lajeunesse, 19, of 116-34 221st St., was shot in the right thigh by an unknown gunman toting a shotgun at around 2:20 a.m. Saturday in front of 111-24 202nd St. in St. Albans, police said.
Lajeunesse later died after being taken to Jamaica Hospital, police said.
Dorothy Webb-Moody, a registered nurse who lives across the street from the St. Albans home, said she heard about three shots and ran out the door carrying towels to help Lajeunesse, who lay bleeding on the street next to a white Honda Accord.
“He was bleeding all over the place,” Webb-Moody said. “I heard somebody say, ‘Help him, help him,’ so I brought some towels. It was a whole herd of people running together with them.”
Webb-Moody said about 200 people were attending the party.
A man and two women who stood by the house Saturday said they had not been around during the party and walked away.
Webb-Moody said the incident was shocking, saying the block had always been safe.
“We’d never had anything happen like that in this neighborhood,” she said. “Who would bring a shotgun to the party these days? Why would you need a shotgun? It was senseless. You can’t tell me there was a reason to kill him.”
It was unclear whether the gunman attended the party or drove by the house and then opened fire.
Police did not release the identification of the wounded teen.
A 202nd Street resident who asked not to be named said he heard the shots even though he lived the next block down.
“It woke me out of my sleep,” he said. “I knew something would happen. I heard screaming: ‘Is somebody going to help him?’”
The resident called the shooting “unfortunate.”
“These kids today, they’re crooked,” he said. “They reach for a gun. They don’t talk out things.”
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4573.
