Gavin Torres never made it home from his first day of work. Walking home Tuesday night from work at Pomegranate, a grocery store on Coney Island Avenue, the 19-year-old was gunned down less than a block away from his home on Avenue J. His family and friends are trying to figure out why.
According to police reports, Officers Christopher Deats and Allison Rodriguez of the 70th Precinct heard a gunshot while on routine patrol in the Midwood neighborhood at about midnight. When they turned their cruiser onto Avenue J, the officers saw Julio Iglesias, 19, fire two shots in the direction of Torres.
“There was a confrontation at some point,” said Torres’ cousin Michael, who declined to give his last name. “By the time he was found by his uncle he was already on the ground, and already suffered wounds. The last thing he said was ‘Tell my mom and my dad that I love them, but I’m going to die.’ He just kept repeating that over and over. How do you explain that to his parents?”
Torres was transported to Kings County Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 2:32 a.m. Iglesias fled the scene after the officers identified themselves, discarding a 9mm gun and a knife before being arrested moments later on East 12th Street without incident. Iglesias is charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a firearm.
The motive for the shooting remains unknown, but Matt Swerdloff, marketing director for Pomegranate, confirmed that Iglesias and Torres were both employed there. Swerdloff described the two men as “nice, quiet guys.”
“It’s very sad,” Swerdloff said. “It could happen to anybody. It’s a tragedy on both ends.” Swerdloff said that the store does thorough background checks and screening on all employees.
Torres, who graduated from Edward R. Murrow High School in February, was well liked by classmates and school officials who knew him. He returned to the school about three weeks ago to pick up his diploma, said one school safety officer. “I told him to say out of trouble,” she said. Officials at the school declined to comment.
Michael said his cousin was applying to schools for the fall and wanted to attend the Borough of Manhattan Community College. “It’s crazy how one minute he’s there and one minute he’s not,” Michael said. “He couldn’t even say bye to anybody. I was devastated. We had big plans to hang out this weekend.”
Leave a Reply