A $10,000 reward is being offered in the case of a Brooklyn deli worker gunned down in broad daylight after an apparent argument, authorities say.
Nazim Berry, 37, was pronounced dead at a hospital after the 4:15 p.m. shooting on Franklin Avenue near Lincoln Place in Crown Heights. He had been shot once in the head.
The victim's mother, Danette Hollie, said her son died over a single cigar. She said the shooter asked her son to buy him a Black and Mild and he refused. Then he left, allegedly returned with a gun and opened fire.
Berry's mother says her son saw the weapon and the two struggled for the gun. A bullet hit Berry in the back of his head, she said.
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"I knew it was senseless, I knew it was," Hollie said. "I knew that it had to be over something stupid, because I know his heart."
Surveillance video captured the sound of the gunshot ringing out in the mid-afternoon sun; someone is seen running east on Lincoln Place afterward. Police later released surveillance photos of the person suspected in the deadly shooting.
Denis Debranch, Berry's former karate teacher, was at the scene among a sea of mourners who came to honor Berry. Candles and flowers honoring the victim were left outside the deli in a growing memorial.
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Police on Tuesday went around the neighborhood posting signs offering a $3,500 reward for anyone with information that helps find the shooter. The United Bodegas of America is also offering a $10,000 reward in the case.
No arrests have been made. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
