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Police Arrest Suspect in Deadly East Harlem Shooting

By DNAinfo Staff on April 13, 2011 7:18am  | Updated on April 13, 2011 3:01pm

Police arrested 26-year-old Denni Valdez in connection to the shooting death of Joshua Nelson at East 128th Street and Park Avenue Tuesday.
Police arrested 26-year-old Denni Valdez in connection to the shooting death of Joshua Nelson at East 128th Street and Park Avenue Tuesday.
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DNAinfo/Elizabeth Ladzinski

By Gabriela Resto-Montero

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — Police arrested a suspect in Tuesday's murder underneath the Metro North train tracks in East Harlem.

Denni Valdez, 26, was arrested after a brief foot chase at the scene and charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon in the murder of Joshua Nelson, 25, police said. Nelson was found Tuesday lying on the ground at the corner of 128th Street and Park Avenue with multiple gunshot wounds to the torso, police said.

FDNY paramedics tried to resuscitate Nelson at the scene Tuesday afternoon but he was pronounced dead at 5:15 p.m., police said.

His family gathered at their house Wednesday afternoon to remember Nelson and try to make sense of his murder.

Josh Nelson, 25, was shot and killed in East Harlem on April 12, 2011.
Josh Nelson, 25, was shot and killed in East Harlem on April 12, 2011.
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Nelson Family

His father and sister described him as a family-oriented person who was pursuing a career in the music business.

"He was a big music person," said his father, Henry Nelson Jr., 45. "They called him 'Captain Hook.'"

The family said they did not know Valdez and were unsure if Nelson had known him.

Officers who responded to the murder saw Valdez running away from the scene, and chased him to an apartment building at 57 E. 128th St., where he was arrested, the NYPD said.

"They didn't have to kill him," said Nelson's grandmother, breaking down in tears. "Josh was a good boy."

Less than two weeks ago police investigated another shooting death in East Harlem one block north of where Nelson died.