The Chinese food delivery man lured to a dead-end trap on Staten Island was gunned down by a 16-year-old kid, who was busted on Friday along with two cohorts, police said.
James Sanders, fired a single shot to the head of Richard Salvia, 50, during a robbery-gone-wrong on Grandview Avenue in Mariners Harbor on Tuesday night, law enforcement sources.
His alleged accomplice, Otoniel Carty, 17, called in the $40 order to an address where he would be a sitting duck — asking for combo meals of sweet-and-sour chicken, mixed vegetables and General Tso chicken.
Salvia arrived in a Chevy Impala around 8 p.m., and as soon as he got out, Sanders approached him with .38-caliber Derringer, the sources said.
Carty then came up from behind Salvia and reached into his pocket.
Salvia slapped his hand away and Sanders pulled the trigger, killing him instantly.
The third suspect, Devin Hill, 19, was waiting in a nearby van — and drove the crew away empty-handed.
Grainy surveillance video captured the robbery and shooting. A second video taken at a nearby store was better quality and helped lead cops to the suspected killers, the sources said.
The video evidence was “instrumental” in cops making an arrest, a source said.
Sanders and Carty confessed to the robbery and murder, but Hill demanded a lawyer and refused to talk, the sources said.
They were each charged with murder and attempted robbery, and Sanders and Carty were also hit with gun possession. Sources said they planned the robbery for days.
Sanders has a 2013 arrest for disorderly conduct, sources said. Carty was arrested last year for punching a teacher in the face and spitting at him at his high school.
Hill has a 2011 arrest for pot and resisting arrest, sources said.
The three men were picked up on Staten Island early Friday morning.
Investigators also recovered the gun used in the shooting from Carty’s sister’s house, law enforcement sources.
The cell phone used to order the Chinese food was also found, a law-enforcement source said.
There are no other suspects, cops said.
A Salvia family member welcomed the news of the collars, saying, “Oh, that’s good!”
Employees at Crown Palace restaurant on Forest Avenue, where Salvia was still in training, also rejoiced.
“We are happy that the police caught them,” said a manager who declined to give her name. “Now Richard can rest in peace.”