A man shot to death on a return visit to the Harlem NYCHA development where he grew up was a father of four with another child on the way, heartbroken relatives say.
Christopher Jimenez, 34, was shot in the chest during a confrontation with two men in the lobby of a Manhattanville Houses building on W. 126th St. near Broadway about 5 p.m. on Thursday, police said.
“Tragedy just happened in here, inside the building,” the victim’s mother, Victoria Roldan, 57, told the Daily News while standing with other mourners at a memorial to her son outside the building.
Friends, neighbors and relatives left dozens of lit candles along with a photo of Jimenez and messages to him written on posters.
“He was a good son and a good brother,” said Roldan. “I had seven kids. They were all together all the time.”
The mother said Jimenez had moved to New Jersey, but he frequently traveled back and forth to his childhood home. He had four children, the oldest 13.
Jimenez’s girlfriend is pregnant with his fifth child, Roldan added.
Two shell casings were found at the scene, and police are searching for two men, one wearing all black and the other wearing a blue sweater and gray sweatpants.
Jimenez was rushed to Mount Sinai Morningside hospital, where he died about 30 minutes after he was shot, cops said.
According to state records, Jimenez had been paroled from prison a year ago after serving two years for attempted criminal possession of a weapon.
A childhood friend of the victim held his hand as he lay dying in the lobby.
“It’s going to be in my head forever,” Demetria Ramuesr told The News. “There were three shots. I got down there and he was lying by himself. I was talking to him as he was lying on the floor. He said, ‘I’m dying.’ ”
Jimenez was a welcome sight when he visited his old home and still had many friends there, she said.
“He could have been visiting anybody,” she said. “Everybody knew him and everybody loved him.”
Kerry Burke/New York Daily News
NYPD on the scene of the shooting at NYCHA’s Manhattanville Houses on Thursday night. (Kerry Burke/New York Daily News)
A witness to the bloodshed said the victim got into a fight with a man in the lobby and was thrown to the ground. That man or another man who was with him then shot the victim, according to the witness, who did not see who the shooter was.
“It was bold, just bold. They walked right up and shot him in the lobby,” a man who did not want to give his name told The News. “The police were stationed right here. The precinct is right up the block. I can’t believe it. It was just damn bold.”
Jimenez’s mother hopes her son will soon get justice.
“I just want them to find whoever killed him,” she said.
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