An NYU lab technician forgot his wallet in his apartment — and paid for it with his life when an ex-con neighbor yanked him from an elevator and beat him to death with a cell phone, cops said.
Bakary Darboe, 46, was riding the lift in his Bronx building — after returning home to grab his billfold — when he fell victim to the “completely unprovoked” attack, police said.
“To do this to Bakary, to just kill him like that, we cannot forget,” said the victim’s brother Mbemba Darboe, 61. “We can forgive, but we cannot forget.”
Relatives said the father of six was on his way to Mercy College, where he was taking classes, when he realized he forgot his wallet and returned home to grab it just before 5 p.m. Thursday.
Police arrest shadow-boxing attacker who killed Bronx man
Darboe jumped back into the elevator after leaving his ninth-floor apartment. Now carrying his wallet, Darboe made it to the seventh floor of the building on E. 156th St. in Melrose when the elevator doors opened.
A deranged 40-year-old parolee — identified as Junal Jordan — had been shadowboxing in the hallway, sources said. As soon as the elevator doors opened, Jordan launched into a ferocious attack, sources said.
“The guy is shadowboxing in the hallway,” a police source said. “The elevators open up and he pulls the guy out of the elevator and beats him.”
Family members of Bakary Darboe grieve at his apartment on E. 156th St. a day after he was murdered.
(Michael Schwartz for New York Daily News)
A security camera captured Jordan dragging Darboe out into the hallway and then pummeling the older man, sources said.
“Please get off me ... I can’t breathe!” Darboe screamed at one point, sources said.
The video shows Darboe managing to get back to his feet. He started to stagger away — but the suspect then delivered several blows with a cell phone to the bloodied victim’s head until he collapsed.
Darboe was found dead at the scene in a pool of blood, sources said.
One of his knocked-out teeth was found nearby, along with a bloody backpack, two cell phones and a set of keys. Spots of blood stained the hallway walls.
Cops found Jordan a few blocks away and took him into custody.
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Lunatic beats Bronx neighbor to death in unprovoked attack - NY Daily News