Nabbed in ma slay
Cops: Qns. gang punk fired stray bullet
A 19-year-old gangbanger was nabbed Thursday for the stray bullet slaying of a churchgoing Queens mother walking home from a store, police said Thursday.
Dajuan Williams, a member of the Woodside Crips, was arrested for murder and criminal possession of a weapon. He lives in Woodside and told police he’s a child care worker. He has no prior arrests.
Gudelia Vallinas, 37, was killed by a bullet to the head the night of March 12 at 48th St. and Broadway in Astoria.
“We feel a little more satisfied and at peace,” said her husband, Alfredo Vallinas, also 37.
Video showed two gunmen running side by side down the street toward their unseen target before opening fire and then running off. The second gunman was still being sought Thursday.
“What happened with my wife, we can’t bring her back,” her husband said in Spanish. “But I don’t have any resentment towards them because we don’t know how their lives are. If I live with resentment, I’ll get sick.”
The victim’s husband and her father in law, Miguel Vallinas, 60, marveled Thursday at the work of the arresting detective.
“The detective should get an award because of what he did,” Miguel Vallinas said in Spanish.
“It’s not good,” the husband said of Williams’ gang affiliation. “These young people also need love. They need their families. Where are the parents? ... They have to give their kids love.”
Gudelia Vallinas had just left home to go to the pharmacy when she was shot, her father-in-law said.
“And when this happened, it destroyed us. We didn’t even know it was her until they called us from the hospital, and the official told us that it was her, and that there was no hope, that the doctors couldn’t do anything more,” Miguel Vallinas recalled.
“We’re trying to fight against this pandemic. And then these guys come and this happens? Imagine.”
The Mexican immigrant is survived by her husband, their 11-year-old son and their 9-year-old daughter.
“They’re OK,” the victim’s fatherin-law said of the children. “They’re OK because their mom always took them to violin, to guitar, to boxing. They were members of the Boy Scouts ... so they’re strong. And they always pray.”
Added her husband, “We’re trying to live as normally as we can, but their mom was a really strong presence in their lives. There’s a hole now — because a mother’s love, you can’t replace it.”
The two met when they were just 15 years old, and their family members set introduced them to each other.
“It’s really sad because I lost my wife, I can’t touch her or see her again,” he said.
The family’s faith as helped them process her killing so far.
“We’re destroyed, but we have to forgive those people. We can’t have hate and bitterness in our hearts,” Miguel Vallinas said.
Less than two weeks after Vallinas’ shooting, a 29-year-old man was shot and killed about a block away, outside the Woodside Houses. Police sources believe that slaying resulted from the same gang rivalry that led to Vallinas’ death.
“They also have to give power back to the police,” Miguel Vallinas said. “They’ve taken away a lot of funding, and they have to give it back . ... It’s really dangerous to walk in the streets right now.”
As for the killer and his still-atlarge accomplice, Miguel Vallinas said the laws should deal with them.
“Whatever the law says. And they should educate them, and help these people. Because these people need help, psychologically and spiritually,” he said.
Williams awaited arraignment Thursday in Queens Criminal Court.