In the late hours of a Sunday evening in October 2017, a drug deal in a Washington Heights parking garage took a fatal turn, leaving one man dead in an unforeseen burst of violence. Jose Nunez, a 43-year-old Hispanic male, had arranged to sell marijuana to two men in the garage of his residence at 111 Wadsworth Avenue. The transaction was underway at approximately 10:50 p.m.
on October 29th when the two buyers suddenly turned on Nunez and his 31-year-old friend, initiating a robbery.
As the two robbers forced Nunez and his companion to the ground, they began to go through their pockets and pistol-whipped the 31-year-old man. Unbeknownst to the assailants, an associate of Nunez, described as a bodyguard, was nearby. Seeing the robbery unfold, the bodyguard drew a firearm and opened fire. In the chaotic moments that followed, a bullet tragically struck Nunez in the head. The robbers and Nunez's friend fled the scene.
Emergency services were called to the location between West 178th and 179th streets, where they found Nunez with a gunshot wound to the head and his friend with a laceration. Both men were transported to New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. Nunez was pronounced dead the following morning. His friend was treated for life-threatening injuries but was listed in stable condition.
In the immediate aftermath, police described one of the robbers as a heavyset man, approximately 6 feet tall with a goatee, while the other was last seen wearing a camouflage shirt. The bodyguard who fired the fatal shot was described as being between 25 and 33 years old and weighing around 160 pounds; he was seen wearing a two-tone gray hoodie, dark sweatpants, and black and gray sneakers. As of the days following the incident, no arrests had been made in connection with the death of Jose Nunez.
