By Joe Anuta
A small memorial was erected on a Rosedale street Monday evening at the spot where the manager of a Jamaican restaurant was murdered over the weekend.
Friends and family gathered at the back of the Cozy Corner Jamaican Restaurant, at 144-12 243rd St., as candles and sticks of incense burned out front where the incident occurred.
At about 10:30 p.m. Friday, officers responded to a call of shots fired in front of the eatery and found Nevill Brown, 56, with multiple gunshot wounds to the head, according to the NYPD.
Just before police arrived, Brown was standing outside the restaurant talking to a woman who was sitting inside a parked car, according to a report in the New York Post.
A man dressed in black then approached Brown, fired several rounds and then fled the scene, the Post reported.
Brown was previously arrested for selling marijuana in the 1990s, the Post reported.
One neighbor who stopped at the memorial said Brown was a great guy and respected around the neighborhood.
“This is crazy,” he said. “This violence has got to stop.”
Residents and nearby business owners said 243rd Street basically shuts down around 9 p.m. or 10 p.m., and one worker said he heard several gunshots on the night of the murder.
Another man who did not want to be named said the neighborhood is unsafe and he was not shocked a murder had taken place.
Reach reporter Joe Anuta by e-mail at januta@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
