By Rebecca Henely
Police were still looking for the killer of Kareem Bandy, a 30-year-old South Jamaica resident who had previously lived in upstate New York.
Bandy was found dead in the house where he was a tenant Friday evening with a gunshot wound to his head, police said.
Officers discovered Bandy, who lived on the second floor of a home near 137th Avenue and 158th Street, after getting a 911 call at 6:40 p.m. When the EMS arrived, they pronounced Bandy dead at the scene, police said.
The NYPD has ruled the death a homicide but had made no arrests as of Tuesday afternoon press time.
Bandy’s landlady, who declined to give her name, said she was not home at the time of Bandy’s death.
“It was a crime scene when I came back,” she said.
Bandy’s landlady said the house was not broken into and she speculated that the murderer was somebody who knew Bandy.
“It’s startling, of course,” she said.
She described Bandy as a “nice guy” and said in the two years he lived there she had not seen any behavior that would have caused concern.
“I don’t know much about him,” she said. “Respectful. Helpful.”
Brandy’s landlady said she did not know anything about Bandy’s family. Attempts to contact Bandy’s family members were unsuccessful.
The online version of the TimesLedger story drew multiple comments from Bandy’s friends many of whom identified themselves as living in Albany or Troy, N.Y. Some comments said Bandy had a girlfriend and children.
“It’s so sad and stupid!” said a comment by “DeeDee” of Albany. “K showed everybody luv and put food on a lot of tables!”
A neighbor across the street from the house said she had not seen or heard anything. Another neighbor who said she was a correction officer said she saw the crime scene set up Friday night but did not know the circumstances.
Brenda Shelto, a 47-year-old neighbor who lives a few blocks away, said the slaying was a surprise in that part of the neighborhood, which is close by to Rochdale Village.
“Nothing goes on around here,” she said.
The 113th Precinct — which encompasses Rochdale Village, South Jamaica, St. Albans and Addisleigh Park — has recorded four murders so far this year, according to the most recent NYPD statistics. So far in 2011, the precinct had seen three murders. Police statistics showed 17 murders occurred in the 113th Precinct in 2011.
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
