A man accused of gunning down a Queens resident and then speeding off on an e-scooter as the victim’s wife looked on in horror was a hired killer — who was never paid for the cold-blooded murder, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Luis Belis, 26, was apprehended in Georgia and indicted on both first- and second-degree murder charges in the fatal shooting of Jair Javier Vinces-Cobena on March 13.
Prosecutors said he was offered $20,000 to kill Vinces-Cobena, whom he’d never met, by a man in Ecuador, with a relative brokering the long-distance introduction.
It was not immediately disclosed why the person who hired Belis wanted Vinces-Cobena dead.
After accepting the contract, Belis purchased a prepaid cellphone he used to pass messages to his employer via WhatsApp. He then made several trips to New York City, including in January and March, when he stalked Vinces-Cobena, but backed out of killing him, prosecutors said.
On March 12, the day before the killing, prosecutors say Belis drove a gray Ford Explorer to New York from Georgia, where he acquired his firearm.
The following day, the alleged hitman, wearing black clothes and a purple mask, parked his car in the vicinity of 51st Avenue between 96th and 97th Streets in Corona, exited the vehicle, mounted a stand-up scooter, and rode off in search of his victim.
Vinces-Cobena, 36, was shot multiple times in the head and body by the scooter-riding gunman on 55th Ave., just around the corner from his 98th St. apartment in Corona, shortly before 8 p.m., cops said.
Five .9-mm shell casings were recovered from the scene, officials said. Two cars had also been hit with bullets.
Prosecutors said Belis circled the block for about 30 minutes before spotting the victim, gunning him down and speeding off.
“I heard pop! pop! pop! It was fast,” a neighbor, who would only identify himself as Ray, told the Daily News at the time of the killing. “I heard a girl say, ‘Oh, my God! Help! Help!’”
Vinces-Cobena was shot once in the head and repeatedly throughout his body, cops said. Medics rushed him to Elmhurst Hospital, where he died.
“His wife saw the whole thing,” Luca Estrella, 42, owner of Estrella Auto Repairs around the corner from the shooting, said shortly after the shooting.
After the shooting, Belis rode back to his car, where he stashed his scooter before driving back to Georgia.
Police issued an alert for the vehicle, which was located in Gwinnett County, Georgia, four days after the shooting. Belis was arrested and cops found a .9-mm firearm, the stand-up electric scooter, and Belis’ cellphone following his arrest, prosecutors said.
Before his arrest, Belis “made multiple attempts to contact the man in Ecuador to collect payment of his $20,000 fee, without success,” prosecutors said.
The alleged gunman lives in Lawrenceville, Georgia, and has no prior criminal record in New York City, police said. He was extradited to New York on Tuesday, where he was charged with murder.
Estrella said Vinces-Cobena helped out at a pop-up car wash on the block, but a family member who declined to give his name said the victim didn’t work there.
“He was a hard worker,” said Estrella, who described Vinces-Cobena as a “pretty boy, with his hair always combed to the back.”
“I always saw him like a family man,” the repair shop owner said. “He always said hello to me. Always shook my hand.”
Queens Supreme Court Justice Gia Morris ordered Belis jailed without bail at his arraignment Tuesday night. His lawyer declined to comment.
If convicted, Belis faces life in prison without the possibility of parole, prosecutors said.
“As alleged, the defendant entered into a contract to kill Jairo Vinces-Cobena and stalked the victim on several trips he made to New York City,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said Wednesday. “In March 2026, Luis Belis tracked the victim down to a street in Corona, Queens, murdered him in cold blood and quickly fled to Georgia. I thank our law enforcement partners in Gwinnett County and the NYPD for apprehending and returning this murder suspect to New York so that he can face justice in our courts.”
