Pictured: Kristal Bayron-Nieves, 19, who was shot and killed while working at Burger King in Harlem early Sunday morning.
A teenage girl was shot and killed during a robbery while working her shift at a Harlem Burger King, and the killer took only $ 100.
Kristal Bayron-Nieves, 19, was working as a cashier at Burger King at 116th Street and Lexington Avenue in East Harlem around dawn Sunday when an armed robber entered the restaurant around 1 a.m.
The gunman struck a male customer with a pistol before striking a manager in the face.
Bayron-Nieves, who just started the job three weeks ago, gave the thief $ 100 in cash from the drawer, a witness said, according to his mother.
The criminal turned to leave, but turned around again and shot Bayron-Nieves in the torso, according to the New York Post.
The teenager was transported to the nearby Metropolitan Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
“She didn’t deserve to be killed while working at a Burger King,” said a police source.
Her family told the Post that she had already requested more security and moved to day shifts after fearing for her safety when leaving work.
“He’s only 19 years old and more than 50 homeless people are sleeping in front of the store,” said his mother, Kristie Nieves, 36, in Spanish through her friend and translator Nathalie Pagan.
Surveillance photo of the suspect, right, wanted for killing the 19-year-old cashier while robbing a fast food restaurant for just $ 100
Pictured: Police officers investigate a fatal shooting of a teenager who worked at the Burger King at 116th Street and Lexington Avenue in East Harlem
Kristal Bayron-Nieves’ body is taken from the Burger King early Sunday after she was fatally shot in the torso during a robbery.
Her mother went on to say that she was feeling particularly heartbroken by the death of her daughter after persuading her to continue going to work despite the teenager’s concerns.
Kristal said on Friday: ‘I don’t want to go. I’m scared, ” Nieves said.
I say, ‘You have to go and be responsible.’ At 10 o’clock at night, I wake her up to come and tell her: ‘You have to go.’ You have to be responsible. You have to have a better life. ”
Pagan added that Kristal’s mom ‘feels guilty about it. That’s what she told me before, that she feels guilty because she wakes her up to leave. ‘
The teenager was transported to the nearby Metropolitan Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The thief has yet to be identified or detained, according to police, as they continue to investigate and tour the crime scene, pictured above.
According to the family, a young man, who stopped by to see her at the restaurant to bring her a flower almost every night, was there when she was killed.
“He told us he was there until his last breath,” Pagan said.
‘He tells us when he went and walked to the place that he always bought him a flower. He came back and they open the door for this guy who was dressed like them, all in black.
Bayron-Nieves reportedly mistook the thief for a delivery man before beating up the restaurant manager and knocking out the young man who was there to see her.
Pagan said the teen eventually gave the thief all the money in the register, about $ 100 in cash.
“So (the young man) says the guy turns around and comes back and shoots him,” Pagan said.
‘That he turns around like he’s going to go, but comes back and shoots him.’
“She had done everything he said,” he said.
She gave him the money and everything. That he didn’t even do anything wrong.
The thief, who has not yet been identified or detained, was described as a thin man wearing dark clothing and a black mask, according to police.
Authorities have since released surveillance video footage of the man wanted in the teen’s death.
Fatal robbery comes as New York City’s crime rate soars after the controversial decision by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to downgrade the felony crimes of robbery, armed robbery and drug trafficking to minor offences.
Since then, the number of robberies has increased by 19.4 percent over the course of the last week.
Meanwhile, former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton lashed out at Bragg, claiming that the city’s new chief prosecutor is “ handcuffing the police ” as authorities search for Bayron-Nieves’ killer, while blaming George Soros for choosing Bragg.
Current New York Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell echoed Bratton’s claims and criticized the new policy as a “danger” to officers.
Bratton, who said Soros has “effectively destroyed the criminal justice system in America,” called Bragg’s policies of downgrading robbery, armed robbery and drug trafficking from felonies to misdemeanors as a “recipe. for disaster. ”
“He means well in the sense that he’s trying to find a way to address some of the problems of the past,” Bratton said.
“You don’t address the problems of the past by effectively decriminalizing just about everything in New York City.”
Pictured: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg downgraded armed robbery and other felony offenses to misdemeanors
Sunday’s robbery and fatal shooting incident comes as crime continues to rise in New York City with a 19.4 percent increase in reported robberies
Bratton said newly elected Mayor Eric Adams has his hands tied in terms of crime as Bragg’s office implements its wake-up policies.
Mayor Adams had promised a return to broken window policing after winning a tough-minded campaign against crime.
“I don’t know how Mr. Adams is going to do that when the district attorney is handcuffing the police,” he said.
Several of New York City’s district attorneys also took aim at the soft crime policies set out this week by Bragg.
Meanwhile, Crime Stoppers is offering $ 3,500 for the killer’s catch, as search posters with a surveillance photo of the killer could be seen adorning the streets of East Harlem on Sunday.
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