A 65-year-old manager shot dead by a masked robber in a Queens bodega was the second worker killed there in 15 years, the store’s grieving owner said yesterday.
Jorge Marte, the father of two adult children, was behind the counter in Melani Grocery, on Guy Brewer Boulevard in Jamaica, talking with a customer when the gunman burst in at 10 p.m. Friday and loudly demanded cash, police said.
Marte, a Dominican native and Corona resident, made a dash for the front door but was shot in the chest. He died at Jamaica Hospital.
“He’s my childhood friend. He was a good man,” said owner José Rosario, 59, who also employed Cesar Rubio, who was killed during a stickup at the store in 1996.
Detectives are reviewing Friday night’s surveillance video for clues to the killer’s identity.