E. Harlem deli slay bust
Susp tracked to S.I. 7 mos. after stabbing over 50 cents
After a seven-month manhunt, police busted a suspect in the stabbing slaying of an East Harlem deli worker who refused to lend him 50 cents to buy loose cigarettes.
Christian Diaz, 25, was arrested Tuesday on Staten Island, where he had been staying at friend’s home, and was charged with murder in the Oct. 29 death of Yemeni immigrant Ahmed Almoliki, 34, at the K&B Gourmet Deli on Second Ave. near E. 102nd St.
Diaz shaved his facial hair after the slaying and sought help getting out of town — but he was done in by tips from three high school classmates and by police body-worn camera video from a speeding ticket, said police.
Police said Wednesday that Diaz has no prior arrest record but was known to East Harlem merchants as a problem customer.
Almoliki and his cousin, Zakaria Hussein, 21 — a co-worker at K&B Gourmet Deli — refused Diaz’s request for a 50-cent loan to buy some “loosies” — loose cigarettes, said NYPD Lt. John Russo.
“He became irate, telling them to come outside,” Russo said.
Diaz simulated having a gun in his hoodie pocket, Russo said. After Diaz left the deli, the lieutenant said, Russo banged on the store window.
“I could kill you!” the suspect allegedly yelled at the workers, according to court papers.
At that point Almoliki and the cousin went outside, Russo said.
Surveillance video of the lethal encounter shows Almoliki brandishing a golf club as he chased the killer down the street, swinging so hard at one point that he comes out of his shoes.
After one missed swipe, the killer stabbed Almoliki in the arm and upper body.
Hussein, who was armed with a bat, escaped with a cut to his left eyelid that did not require medical attention, but the dying Almoliki, gashed on his abdomen and arm, collapsed after walking out of camera range.
“It was a heinous crime,” Russo said. “This is a guy, hardworking guy, working at a bodega, trying to make a living for him and his family and just trying to protect a business he doesn’t even have an ownership stake in. Goes outside to prevent the glass from being broken and gets stabbed up.”
The suspect ran off, Russo said — but police found video of Diaz entering the apartment building where he then lived, which was less than two blocks away.
A call from a tipster identified the killer and provided his date of birth, information that led cops to body-worn camera footage taken when an officer pulled Diaz over for speeding on the FDR Drive on May 16, 2020.
“The person in the vehicle receiving the summons and who exits the vehicle at some point is clearly the same person on video who committed the stabbing,” Russo said.
As the investigation was going on, Russo said, three other tipsters contacted police and identified him as a former classmate from Queens Vocational High School.
Diaz had asked one of the tipsters for help getting out of town and provided that person with a photo showing he had shaved his facial hair, “clearly an attempt to elude police,” Russo said.
There was no indication Diaz had plans to leave the country or even the city anytime soon, police said. Russo suggested that for someone with strong links to Queens and Manhattan, Staten Island may have seemed far enough away to avoid detection.
Shortly after the murder, Mohamed Alzokari, another cousin of the murder victim, broke the news to the family in Yemen.
“It’s a very hard moment now to say anything,” he said in October. “It’s shocking. I don’t know how to explain it.”
The stabbing brought then-Democratic mayoral candidate Eric Adams and his Republican counterpart Curtis Sliwa to the scene of the crime hours later.
“This country certainly believes in the American dream,” said Adams, who posted a personal $1,000 reward to encourage tipsters to come forward. “Today we are acknowledging the shattering of that dream, and it turned into a nightmare.”