He’s killed for bling he wore to honor his slain friend
Shot 15 times, girlfriend wounded in Qns. bar attack
A Queens man was killed in a karaoke lounge over a flashy gold chain honoring his slain friend, the victim’s devastated mother told the Daily News.
Dominick Malivert saved money for seven months to buy the chain, which he sported during a Friday night outing at K-Shot KTV Lounge & Bar Party on 138th St. near 38th Ave. in Flushing.
Another man in the club saw the pricey jewelry — and an opportunity, the 22-year-old victim’s mother told The News on Monday, citing what she heard from detectives.
“You better have some big guns for the big chain,” the man said, according to Dominique Mitchell, Malivert’s mom.
The shooter let loose a barrage of gunfire about 1:15 a.m., hitting Malivert 15 times and striking his girlfriend in her hand, cops said.
Mitchell described her son as a determined, hardworking man who worked for a freight company. He had dreams of opening a real estate business and a trucking business.
“There can never be anyone on Earth that can be as wonderful, as loyal, as loving, as bold, as Dominick. He was a bowl full of flavor, full of life. Big dreams!” she said.
Malivert rarely wore the chain in public but made an exception for the night out at the karaoke joint, his mother said. The bling features Malivert’s name on one side and the name of his friend, who was killed in November, on the other side.
That pal, Stephane Julien, was cut down in a shooting that left Malivert’s older brother wounded.
Malivert “was still traumatized” over Julien’s death, Mitchell said. “That was like a great figure for him, a great mentor for him. That friend was a good kid, always had a smile on his face,” she added.
Mitchell tried in vain to discourage her son from buying the chain, telling him it was too flashy. After Malivert was laid off from UPS, he saved unemployment money for seven months to buy the bling, she recalled.
“He said, ‘Mom, everything I want, I go for. I didn’t kill anybody for it, I didn’t rob anybody for it. I’m in a happy place, a very happy place,’ ” she said. “He didn’t wear it often, he didn’t flash it often. We’re gonna put that chain in a vault, in the bank, as a memorial.”
Police have made no arrests in Julien’s killing.
Mitchell described her son as kind, generous and driven.
“Dominick would give the homeless food,” she said. “He was tall and handsome and very caring. … When he walks in a place, he owns the atmosphere, he commands this atmosphere.”
Friends and family have held four vigils in his memory since his death Friday, she said.
Along with his business dreams, he was also hoping to enroll in college next year.
Malivert had an adventurous side and enjoyed taking in all the city has to offer with his girlfriend — including the Flushing karaoke spot.
“He loved life; he did everything big. They would dine in Manhattan. They would discover different places,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell vowed to fight gun violence, like so many other parents of shooting victims.
“I’m gonna be that voice. I’m gonna open a foundation. That’s what my son would want me to do,” she said. “He always told me, ‘Don’t leave this world without having a business.’ So I’m going to channel that loss into something positive.”