A man returning to the Bronx to celebrate his birthday was shot to death on the street after the party early Sunday, relatives said.
Keon Gill, who turned 43 the day he was slain, was walking near W. 242nd St. and Broadway in Riverdale when the killer approached him and a 25-year-old man about 2:50 a.m., cops said.
A tussle ensued and the gunmen shot both men just outside Van Cortlandt Park before running off, cops said.
“It was his birthday. He had a party. He was about to go home to his wife and celebrate with her,” said Gill’s 32-year-old uncle, who gave his name only as Roger. “He went to have fun and somebody tried to rob him.”
Medics rushed Gill to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he died from being shot in the chest. The younger man is recovering at the same hospital from a gunshot wound to the knee, cops said.
“He was a dedicated father,” the victim’s uncle said. “He was a working father. He was very charismatic and he was fun. He liked to have fun. He liked to go out.”
Gill lives in Middletown, N.Y. in Orange County, about 70 miles north of the city. His killer has not been caught.
“He just wanted to party with his friends and come home and that’s it,” the uncle said. “And he didn’t make it home.”
“He used to live in the Bronx. He got friends in the Bronx,” he added. “Everybody’s definitely grieving and trying to figure out why this happened to our family.”
