(Modified from New York Daily News)
He went for a funeral — but died over a gold chain.
A 31-year-old Guyanese who was in New York City for his grandmother’s funeral was killed during an attempted robbery, in the first homicide in the city for 2017.
The gunman also shot Ricky Kalisaran’s brother, Sunny Kalisaran, 24, in the back. The younger man was still hospitalised Monday afternoon, unaware that his older sibling was dead.
The gunman shot the siblings in front of a building on 124th St. near Liberty Ave. in South Richmond Hill at about 3:25 a.m., police said.
Clutching the black shirt Ricky was wearing when he arrived in the city two days ago from Guyana, his mother Anita Kalisaran, 48, was inconsolable as she spoke with the Daily News.
“They killed my son. They killed my son for a gold chain. They shot and killed him. He come here for the funeral and (he’s) dead now,” the distraught mother said.
Ricky arrived in the city last Friday from Guyana. Their grandmother’s funeral was set for Wednesday, she said.
The last time Anita saw her son Ricky was Sunday night. He asked her if she minded if he went out with his brother Sunny for a couple hours.
“(Sunday) night, he come to ask me if he can go out, and I said, ‘Yes, go,’” she said. “Because he (doesn’t normally) go nowhere.”
A co-worker of Sunny’s said the brothers spent the evening at The Underground Lounge, a club on 123rd St. near Liberty Ave., about a block away from where they would be shot.
They were walking toward their parked grey Infiniti when the robber approached them and demanded their valuables at gunpoint.
The brothers refused — and struggled for the gun, sources said. The gunman shot them, then an accomplice pulled up in a dark sedan and they fled.
No one has been arrested.
Five blocks from the murder scene, at 103rd Ave. and Lefferts Blvd., they crashed into another car before fleeing onto the Belt Parkway, sources said.
No one was injured in the crash.
Paramedics rushed the men to Jamaica Hospital, where Ricky Kalisaran died of a chest wound. Sunny Kalisaran was listed in serious but stable condition.
The co-worker said he believes the target was Sunny Kalisaran because he was wearing a flashy gold chain.
“He’s told me he used to go to different clubs, people (tried) to rob him for his chain, his jewellery,” the co-worker, who asked to be identified only as Martin, 36.
Ann-Marie George, 48, Ricky’s aunt, held a hysterical Anita in the living room of her Cypress Hills home and described how her sister-in-law is not only grieving the death of her son but both her mother, who died last week and father, who died of cancer four months ago.
Ann-Marie George, 48, Ricky’s aunt, said Sunny went to retrieve his phone from his car near the club. Ricky followed him and found him shot on the ground — then his assailant shot at him.
“All for a chain,” Ann-Marie George said. “He fought for his brother.”
Ricky’s grieving mother described her son as humble, loving, and hard-working. He worked full-time in Guyana in construction and as a cab driver, and he would send much of his earnings to his mother in New York each month.
“He helped me so much,” she said, tears streaming down her face. “Since he was 14 years old. The boy worked so hard.”
Lena George, 58, another of Ricky’s aunts, described him as a good person.
“He’s not a bad person,” she said. “Always happy. Quiet. He’d just sit down, look at you and smile.”
Martin said Sunny Kalisaran, who is married with a 1-year-old son, is at Jamaica Hospital unaware that his older sibling is dead.
“We were trying to talk to him but he’s not responding,” he said.
Martin worked with Sunny on Friday and said they spoke about an upcoming party and wished each other a good weekend.
“This news is shocking to me,” he said. “He’s a very sweet guy, cool. I still can’t believe it. He’s very friendly, he makes a lot of jokes.”
Martin said his colleague buried his father last year, and the death of his brother will be a hard blow.
“We’re not taking it good, so imagine him. He just buried his dad, now he got to go and bury his brother now. … It’s sad.”
