After a seven-year investigation, detectives finally booked on Friday the suspect behind a deadly robbery attempt at a Jamaica store in the summer of 2011.
Dewayne Henry, 41, of 126th Street in South Ozone Park faces murder, robbery and weapons possession charges for the July 8, 2011 murder of Corona’s Jorge Marte, 65, who worked as a clerk at the Melani Grocery Store located at 112-44 Guy R. Brewer Blvd.
Sources familiar with the investigation said that an anonymous tip that detectives recently received led them to Henry, who has been locked up since February of this year after the 113th Precinct caught him in possession of a stolen gun.
Law enforcement sources said the suspect, who wore a mask, walked into the Melani Grocery Store at 10:05 p.m. on July 8, 2011 and announced the robbery. Reportedly, a customer inside the shop promptly attempted to flee through the back door.
As the bandit chased after the customer, it was reported, Marte made a break for the front door. The suspect then turned around, spotted Marte and opened fire, striking him once in the torso. The perpetrator fled the scene in an unknown direction.
Officers from the 113th Precinct responded to the incident. Paramedics rushed Marte to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Henry was charged on Aug. 10 with second-degree murder, first-degree robbery and criminal possession of a weapon. Arraignment information was not immediately available.
