A 19-year-old man was shot to death on the street in a quiet Queens neighborhood, police said Monday.
Jean Rios was shot in the chest near 64th Road and Grand Central Parkway in Forest Hills at about 7:40 p.m. Sunday, police said.
The victim’s third cousin Joshua Guevara visited the crime scene Monday afternoon.
“They were trying to rob him probably, because he’s a good kid,” Guevara, 29, speculated. “There’s no other reason for him to die like that.”
“We are from Colombia,” he added. “It’s super surprising for us. We don’t see nothing [like this] over there but see it over here in America.”
A gun and magazine were found near the victim and shell casings were recovered by police
Medics rushed Rios to Queens Hospital Center, where he died just after 10 p.m. Rios lived in Flushing.
One person of interest, wearing all red, rode off on a moped sound on the parkway’s service road. Two other men fled on foot.
All three men are being sought by cops, who have made no arrests.
The victim had three prior arrests, two of them for drug possession, one in March and one last September, according to cops.
“He wasn’t into studying, but he wasn’t a bad kid,” Guevara said of Rios. “He didn’t look for problems. He just was like me — I didn’t go to school either but look, I have a successful company. I do flooring for a living. I’m not superrich, but I’m not poor. So, I guess I thought he was gonna come out like me. Like, he didn’t like school but he’s gonna do something else, not everybody’s meant for school. And a lot of people in the family have their own businesses, so we’re like it’s not a big deal if he doesn’t go to school.”
“At 19 years old, I was lost and then when I turned 21 is when I got serious,” he added. “So we were thinking it’s just a part of life that he’s going through.”
The slaying was just the second of the year in the 112th Precinct, which includes Forest Hills, NYPD stats show.
“He has an older brother who’s my age,” the cousin said of Rios. “I am very close to his brother. I was with his brother this weekend, celebrating my brother’s birthday. Who would have thought that Saturday night we’re in Brooklyn, hanging out, having drinks, having fun and Sunday, this happens. I’m in shock. I have no idea of what happened.”
Originally Published: September 28, 2025 at 11:09 PM EDT
