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Man Accused of Killing Bodega Worker Shows No Remorse, Victim's Family Says

By Eddie Small | August 18, 2016 3:32pm
 Efrain Guzman, left, declined to testify before a grand jury in court on Thursday.
Efrain Guzman, left, declined to testify before a grand jury in court on Thursday.
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Department of Corrections and DNAinfo/Trevor Kapp

THE BRONX — A man accused of grabbing an NYPD officer's gun inside a Bronx bodega and using it to murder a bodega worker showed no remorse for the murder, according to the victim's family who came face to face with their relative's accused killer in court for the first time on Thursday.

Police said Efrain Guzman was trying to rob A & M Deli at  230 E. 198th Street at Valentine Avenue Aug. 9 when he managed to grab a gun from an NYPD officer who responded to the scene and use it to kill deli worker Wali Camara, police said.

"This guy [has] no regret for nothing. He doesn’t care," said Mamadou Doucoure, Camara's uncle.  "This guy is arrogant. He does not have respect ... He should go to jail for the rest of his life."

Guzman, who has been held without bail since the shooting, appeared in court on Thursday in a white T-shirt and khaki pants, and did not speak during the proceedings.

His attorney said he would not be testifying before a grand jury.

Camara's relatives and community leader Mahamadou Keita joined a group of roughly 20 supporters who showed up in court on behalf of the victim Thursday — and said they would continue to do so as the case makes it way through the court system.

"What we saw today is a criminal with no remorse. You could see on his face that he has no regret of what he did," Keita said. "This family, this community will be here showing stronger every single day."

Sanford Rubenstein, the attorney for the victim's family, said the fact that Guzman was allegedly able to grab an NYPD gun from an officer's holster raises troubling questions.

"How is this perpetrator able to grab this gun from this police officer's holster?" he asked. "And do we have holsters in this city that are being used by the NYPD which should be replaced with a newer model?"

Roughly 8,100 police officers have already been trained to use a new holster model, called the Safariland ALS 6360, which has an automatic locking system, and any police officer still using a faulty version of the old holster will be trained to use the 6360, according to the NYPD.

Jorge Monge, the officer who Guzman is accused of taking the gun from, was using the old holster model, and the incident is under internal review, police said.

Guzman is due back in court on Sept. 1.

Family, community members and elected officials will be holding a prayer vigil for Camara on Aug. 19 at 198th Street and Valentine Avenue at 5 p.m.