A Jamaica man pleaded guilty this week to killing the brother of a bodega owner in an attempted robbery. He faces 15 years in prison when he is sentenced for his crimes next month.
Shawn Forde, 29, entered the Lucky Deli on Merrick Boulevard in Laurelton on Oct. 23, 2010 at around 9:50 p.m., brandishing a .45-caliber pistol, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
He grabbed the deli’s co-owner, Felix Torres, who was behind the cash register, and slammed his head onto the counter and demanded cash, which the victim handed over.
When Juan Torres, 54, who was in the back of the store, came to the assistance of his brother, Forde fatally shot him once in the head before fleeing the scene, the DA said.
Deputy Inspector Paul Piekarski, then commander of the 105th Precinct, told the Chronicle the month after the killing that Forde had a previous arrest for disorderly conduct.
Forde, who has been held in jail since his Oct. 31, 2010 arraignment, pleaded guilty last Thursday to first-degree manslaughter before Queens Supreme Court Judge Richard Buchter, who indicated that he would sentence Forde to 15 years in prison on May 1.
“The defendant has admitted that his violent actions were responsible for the untimely death of a hardworking father and store owner,” Brown said in a prepared statement. “As such, the defendant has proven himself unfit for society, and the prison term to be imposed is more than justified.”
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