Eutisha Revee Rennix (AP)
An EMT who was accused of callously ignoring a dying, pregnant woman during his coffee break at an Au Bon Pain last year was shot and killed today after a dispute near a SoHo nightclub, police said.
Embattled EMT Jason Green, 32, and a male pal were trying to get into Greenhouse, a popular club on Varick Street, about 5 a.m. when bouncers turned them away because the friend wasn’t properly dressed, officials said.
Minutes later, about a block away from the club, Green and his friend got into a dispute with an armed man who stepped out of a car at Vandam and Hudson streets and opened fire on them, police said.
The man in the vehicle got off at least two shots, striking Green hit twice in the torso. He later died at New York Downtown Hospital.
Green’s friend was not injured and was being interviewed by cops.
Green of Jackson Heights had been a target of a criminal probe by the Brooklyn DA’s Office because he and his girlfriend, Melisa Jackson, 23, a fellow EMT, allegedly refused to help Eutisha Rennix, 25, a dying, pregnant mom, during their coffee break at the eatery.
Rennix’s still-grieving mother, Cynthia – stunned to learn of Green’s death yesterday – offered kind words of support for his relatives.
“As a mother who has been through this kind of loss, I have to feel for his family,” she said. “Even though what he did to my daughter was an injustice, I am sorry for him, and especially for his mother.”
Eutisha’s sister, Marva, added, “We thought what he did [to Eutisha] was inhuman. But he didn’t deserve [being fatally shot]. … You have to live your life right, because when you do wrong things, life has a way of bringing bad things back to you.”
Eutisha’s twin brother, Eudane, was scheduled to ship overseas with the military last night after getting a tattoo of his sister on his arm.
The criminal investigation into Green and Jackson’s actions began after the pair allegedly ignoring the frantic pleas of Rennix’s co-workers to help her when she suffered a seizure Dec. 9 at the Au Bon Pain shop in 1 Metrotech Center in Brooklyn.
The center is the site of the Fire Department’s headquarters, where the pair of EMTs work as dispatchers.
Rennix, who had a 3-year-old son, died at Long Island College Hospital after the incident. Her premature baby was delivered at the hospital but also died two hours later.
Witnesses said Jackson called a fellow dispatcher to report the incident but noted that she and Green did nothing to help Rennix, who was six months pregnant.
Green and Jackson were suspended for a month without pay after Rennix died. They were reinstated, but the criminal investigation is pending.
Residents who live near Greenhouse said the club is a magnet for noise and violence.
“I hate to say it, but we’ve been waiting for something like this to happen,” said Silvia Beam, president of the Vandam Street Block Association. “I’ve had numerous complaints filed with 311, and they never got back to us. It starts usually at 11 or 12 at night, and they don’t leave until 1 in the afternoon the next day.”
Additional reporting by Ginger Adams Otis and C.J. Sullivan