Queens tallies first and last homicides

Five hours and 30 minutes into 2011 was all it took for Queens to tally its first homicide of the year after also logging the final killing of 2010.
Dwayne Haughton, 29, was reportedly picking up his girlfriend and her brother from a New Year’s Eve party at Kerryel’s Banquet Hall when he noticed a female friend of his in a scuffle with another woman.
Haughton left his girlfriend, Kadian Allen – the mother of his 18-month-old son – in his black Volvo and approached the fighting women when she reported hearing gunshots and seeing Haughton laying motionless on the corner of 94th Avenue and 127th Street in South Richmond Hill.
Emergency service vehicles responded and transported Haughton to Jamaica Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Police say he had gunshot wounds to his chest and neck. There are no arrests at this time and the investigation is on-going. Haughton leaves behind two other children: a 5-year-old boy and 2-year-old girl.
The last homicide of 2010 occurred just two miles away from the scene of Haughton’s shooting. Police say Jamal West, 26, was trying to escape a hooded gunman when he was shot on the corner of Merrick Boulevard and 109th Avenue at 11:30 p.m. on December 31. Investigators are looking into West’s prior arrests for drug dealing and larceny but a motive is still unknown.