By Bill Parry
The reward for information leading to the arrest of the killer of a pregnant mother of four at LeFrak City in Corona has doubled.
The NYPD is still searching for the gunman who killed Brandee Anastasia Massey, 27, outside her apartment the day before Thanksgiving, after she walked her children to PS 206.
Her baby was delivered by doctors at Elmhurst Hospital Center but later died. The father, Joseph, is said to be distraught two weeks after the murder.
“The kids are with family and they are coping as best they can,” City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-East Elmhurst) said. “They’re starting school again, which will hopefully bring some normalcy back into their lives.”
Ferreras opened an education fund and launched a public fund-raising campaign for the children at www.rally.org/MasseyFund. The fund has raised nearly $16,000 in a week with generous donations from Queens to New Jersey.
“I’m hoping to get more elected officials and community organizations to contribute,” Ferreras said. “It’s a fund for four kids, so the need a lot of help.” Ferreras’ office managed to get help with the burial from the Human Resource Administration with burial assistance from the Office of Victim Services.
Meanwhile, state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) secured commitments from the Queens Center mall and Food Bazaar Supermarkets to raise the reward for information leading to the arrest of the killer to $12,000.
“This community has come together not just to mourn Brandee’s tragic loss, but to help bring justice to her family,” Peralta said. “Food Bazaar Spermarkets and Queens Center have deep roots in this community and understand that the most important thing we can do right now for the Massey family is to help law enforcement bring Brandee’s killer to justice and make whoever is responsible pay for this brutal crime.”
Investigators were still looking for Brandee’s uncle, according to Commissioner Bill Bratton. Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4538.
