By Gina Martinez
A Guyanese man was shot and killed while visiting New York for his grandmother’s funeral when he and his brother were robbed early Monday morning in Richmond Hill, police said.
At 3:25 a.m. police arrived outside 104-32 124th St. where they found 31-year-old Ricky Kalisaran with a gunshot wound in the chest and his brother Sunny, 24, with a gunshot wound to his back. The brothers were taken to Jamaica Hospital, where the older Kalisaran was pronounced dead and his brother Sunny was in stable condition, police said.
According to police, the brothers were walking toward heir car after leavingThe Underground Lounge, a bar one block away on 123rd Street near Liberty Avenue when they were approached by a male who attempted to rob them. Sunny was reportedly wearing a flashy gold chain at the time. The brothers resisted and the suspect shot both of them after a struggle for the gun, police said.
The suspect fled in a dark-colored, two-door sedan, possibly a Mercedes Benz, police said.
There have been no arrests and the investigation was ongoing, police said.
Their mother, Anita Kalisaran, was in tears as she talked to reporters in her Cypress Hills home.
“They killed my son!” she told the New York Post “Last night, he asked me if he could go out and I said, ‘Yes, go’. Then they shoot him. He was the best son. My son wanted to buy me a house.”
A co-worker told the New York Post that he thinks Sunny’s gold chain may have prompted the robbery.
“Even at work, we tell him, ‘You can’t dress like that.’ He’s said he’s gotten in fights over his chains before,’’ the co-worker told the paper.
“The killer must suffer like my sons suffer,” Kalisaran’s mother said. “My son worked very hard. He fought to protect his brother. They killed him for what? A gold chain?”
Family members were gathered in the Cypress Hills home Tuesday, preparing to attend the grandmother’s wake, which was the reason for Ricky’s visit to New York. A $1,000 reward has been posted by community members for information leading to an arrest.
State Sen. James Sanders (D-South Ozone Park) was planning on holding a candlelight vigil Friday at 6 p.m. at the scene of the shooting.
“I stand with the victim’s family, the Guyanese community and all people of good will to condemn this senseless act of violence that ended in the death of Ricky Kalisaran and injured his brother,” Sanders said. “The start of a new year is supposed to be filled with joy and hope, but instead we have a time of tragedy and loss. I call upon the perpetrator of this heinous crime to turn himself in. You will not find refuge in this community. We will not put up with this kind of madness. You will be caught, and you will be brought to justice.”
Community Board 9 board member Richard David said he was sad to see another life lost senselessly to gun violence.
“Ricky was just a tourist visiting our great city, enjoying Little Guyana,” he said. “Our national epidemic of gun violence is too real in South Queens. It’s actually quite shocking and it proves yet again that we have tremendous work to do stamping out this thug life. How many more young men will we lose? My condolences to his family and I join others in praying for his brother’s full recovery. I hope we find the culprits and they face justice for this crime.”
Reach Gina Martinez by e-mail at gmart
