A Queensbridge Houses man was arrested on Monday and booked at the 114th Precinct in Astoria in connection to a fatal shooting of an ex-con on the night of Monday, Nov. 20.
Yasser Saleh, 36, of 12th Street, was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment but his case is being presented to a Queens grand jury which will ultimately decide whether or not to indict Saleh and formally charge him with other crimes for allegedly gunning down 25-year-old Joseph Valdez, of Sherman Avenue in the Inwood section of Upper Manhattan.
Saleh and Valdez were among a group of ten men who were gathered in front of a deli located at 40-35 21st St. just a block away from Saleh’s home. The two men began to argue just after 10:00 p.m. and when Valdez reached for his gun, Saleh beat him to the draw and shot him at point blank range multiple times to his body, according to a source familiar with the case.
Police from the 114th Precinct responded to the scene and found Valdez lying unconscious and unresponsive on the sidewalk. EMS rushed Valdez to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
Valdez was convicted of attempted murder in 2015 and he served 5 years. Following his 2020 release, he was arrested on a weapons charge and imprisoned for another year.
Saleh has a court date scheduled for Feb. 16, according to the Queens District Attorney’s office.
