JACKSON HEIGHTS — Gang members chased a man up Roosevelt Avenue last week before shooting him to death, the district attorney's office said Friday.
Pedro Silva, 20, and a group of other alleged M18 gang members pursued 33-year-old Ivan Rodriguez under the elevated 7 train tracks on Roosevelt Avenue about 6 p.m. Sept. 20, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.
When Rodriguez fell near 90th Street, Silva shot him in the head and neck, fled the scene and tossed the gun in a pile of trash near his Jackson Heights home, the DA said.
The fight was reportedly sparked by a gang turf dispute, but police said they could not confirm that.
Rodriguez, who a roommate said was from Mexico, was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
It was the second deadly incident in broad daylight near the busy thoroughfare in a week. Days earlier, a 69-year-old man, Ever Orozco, was stabbed to death just a block from the shooting.
Brown said in a statement that the shooting was an "unfortunate example of the senseless gun violence that seems to more and more permeate our society," noting that Silva shot Rodriguez while he was lying "helplessly on the ground."
"His alleged actions were violent and ruthless and the charges against him will be vigorously prosecuted," Brown said.
Silva was charged with second-degree murder, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence.
He faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted, the DA said.
Information on Silva's defense attorney was not immediately available.
