Chilling video shows killer gun down 21-year-old ‘Law & Order’ extra in deli
Horrifying footage obtained by The Post on Saturday shows the moment a cold-blooded assassin fatally shoots a man seven times inside a Bronx deli — turning the store into a scene described by one ex-cop as something out of “Carlito’s Way.”
The 14-second surveillance clip from the Friday afternoon ambush inside the B.H. Gourmet Deli on Bainbridge Avenue in Fordham Manor shows the victim, 21-year-old “Law & Order” extra Jayquan Lewis, among at least five people in the bodega as he waited to buy a bottle of Poland Spring water.
One customer leaves the store as the gunman suddenly emerges from the back, dressed in denim shorts, a white tank top and sneakers and wearing a black cross-body bag.
The killer walks by a man standing near the deli door, lifts his arm and starts blasting at Lewis — who falls to the ground, his legs seen shaking in the disturbing footage. Lewis was struck three times in the chest, three times in the arm and once in the stomach, sources said.
“The assassination reminds me of the scene from ‘Carlito’s Way’ when Al Pacino’s character gets shot by Benny Blanco from the Bronx,” said Michael Alcazar, a retired NYPD detective who is now an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
| A high ranking NYPD source said Lewis was killed over a beef on social media and may have had gang ties — which cops are still probing, |
Joseph Giacalone, an adjunct professor at John Jay College and a former NYPD sergeant, said the killing appeared “personal.”
“I have no doubt that (the victim) was targeted. The guy standing next to him could’ve easily been killed too, but wasn’t,” he said.
Lewis’ mom, Marisol Sanchez, denied that her son was involved with a gang — but she said she always worried about his safety and warned him, “I don’t want you on the street” before he left home Friday to buy a cold drink on that scorching day.
Lewis told his mom “I love you” before setting out to the nearby deli.
“I warned him because so much stuff has been going on around here. I have seen so many shootings and I’ve been seeing a lot of killings. That was one of my biggest fears, something happening to my son,” said Sanchez, who was wearing a T-shirt with an image of Pablo Escobar that belonged to Jayquan.
Sanchez, 46, said her son, who was known as JJ and was one of five siblings who “loved acting” and wanted to study nursing, did not have enemies. His mom said he was an extra on “Law & Order,” and Lewis also appeared in the 2019 movie “Joyland,” according to IMDb.
Sanchez said he appeared in the 2013 movie “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete” and the actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje even asked her son for his autograph, telling him, “I know you’re going to make it one day.”
“He was not a troublemaker. He was not those types of kids,” she insisted.
If provoked, however, he would fight back, the mom added.
Sanchez, a recently retired postal worker, said the family was thinking of moving from the Bronx because of the escalating violence there.
“We wanted to go an hour or maybe two hours away from here, to a more quiet area,” she said.
Shootings in the 52nd Precinct, which includes Fordham Manor, increased 46 percent through Aug. 8, with 19, up from 13 during the same period in 2020.
There were two murders through Aug. 8, a 33 percent decline from the same period in 2020, when there were three.
Citywide, shooting incidents have increased 15 percent through Aug. 8 to 942 from 820 during the same time frame last year. Murders were up by 0.8 percent to 260 from 258.
Maria Ramirez, 63, who has lived in Fordham Manor for 34 years, said she felt uncomfortable on Bainbridge.
“This street is dangerous especially after COVID-19 with crazy people on the street,” she said. “I feel nervous a lot of the time, and check my surroundings when I walk.”
Workers at the B.H. Gourmet Deli are nervous now, too.
“I don’t feel comfortable like before,” one said. “But what can I do? I just work here.”
Additional reporting by Kieran Ungemach and Melissa Klein
