BELMONT — The cab driver found shot in the head early on Monday morning picked up his suspected killer and drove him about six miles before he was murdered, according to police.
Mamadou Barry, a 39-year-old father of three whose wife is expecting a fourth child, was found with a gunshot wound to his head in the driver's seat of a green Lincoln Town Car by East 189th Street and Beaumont Avenue around 1:30 a.m. on Monday and pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Officers have described the suspect as a thin man with a medium complexion wearing a red hooded sweater and light colored shorts. Video shows him walking quickly down a sidewalk.
“We don’t have a clear picture of him right now," said NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce. "We’re back in that neighborhood right now to see if he’s from that neighborhood."
Barry picked up the suspect around East 138th Street between Cypress Avenue and Brook Avenue and then drove him up by East 189th Street and Beaumont Avenue, where the suspect took out a gun and shot Barry in the head, police said.
The suspect then fled toward East 187th Street down Crotona Avenue, according to the NYPD.
Officers are still investigating the cause of the murder but said they believe it may have happened while the suspect was trying to rob Barry.
Barry's murder comes shortly after the killing of aspiring livery cab driver Rafael Veras, who was stabbed to death on Thursday in East New York.
This recent rash of murders has led Fernando Mateo, head of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, to call for the return of stop-and-frisk.
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said the NYPD hoped to work with the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers on Barry's murder.
“We will seek to work with (Fernando) Mateo’s organization," he said. "It’s quite likely this character has taken those cabs before.”
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES), then entering TIP577.
