Suspect called abusive
Man accused of bashing gal pal; E. Harlem shoot vic clings to life
New details emerged Thursday in the ghastly shooting of an East Harlem woman who was trying to break up a fight between her neighbors — with another resident describing the alleged shooter as a routine abuser of his girlfriend.
Jemina Garay, 41, was still fighting for her life a day after she was shot Wednesday by her neighbor in the hallway of a Lincoln Houses building on E. 135th St. near Park Ave., cops and witnesses said.
Rahman Browne, who lives on the same floor of the building as Garay and the suspect, had gotten home from an overnight shift when he heard the suspect and his girlfriend screaming Wednesday morning.
“‘F—k you! I slept on this couch all night because of your shit!’ ” Browne recalled the man screaming. “‘F—k you! I’m tired of your f—king mouth!’ ”
Police are routinely called to the suspect’s apartment for domestic violence and have arrested him at least three times, according to Browne.
Fed-up on Wednesday, Garay called the police, who came to her neighbor’s apartment.
“He answered the door when the cops knocked and he said, ‘Everything’s OK, officer,’ ” Browne recalled. “[His girlfriend] came and she didn’t say much. They didn’t really ask her much. They asked him everything, which is stupid.”
After the officers left and Garay was heading to work around 10 a.m., her neighbor confronted her for dialing 911.
“‘That’s right, I called the f—-ing cops on you!’ ” Garay yelled in the hallway, according to Browne. “‘Stop beating her ass!’ ”
The suspect barked back at Garay and warned her to mind her business as his girlfriend thanked the woman for standing up for her, Browne said.
As the argument escalated, the suspect pulled out a gun — in front of his own toddler, who was watching.
“[His girlfriend] said, ‘Watch out, the baby! Watch the baby! Watch the baby!’ ” as he fired the weapon.
Browne heard two shots and when he walked into the hallway, Garay was lying on the floor after gunshot wounds to the head and hip.
Browne, a nurse and former military EMT, quickly dressed Garay’s wounds as he dialed 911.
“She had fluid coming from her mouth,” he said. “There was blood pooling out the back of her head. It was all red. Blood.”
When medics arrived, Browne helped them treat Garay and move her onto a stretcher.
Before she could be transported to Harlem Hospital, one of Garay’s children saw her lying in the hallway motionless, a police source said.
“Every kid in these projects, they don’t fight; they shoot,” Browne said. “There’s a bunch of guns everywhere in these projects.”
Garay — a mother to six children and a veterinary assistant — remained hospitalized Thursday afternoon.
“The most that I can say is she’s strong, she’s strong,” Garay’s husband told the Daily News. “All we can do is you know let the doctor’s do what they’re doing.”
Police are still working to track down the alleged shooter.
“Our life is completely changed,” Garay’s husband said. “I don’t wanna keep reliving it.”