In the pre-dawn hours of a Tuesday in Queens, a grim scene unfolded that would end a woman's life and lead to the death of her killer hours later. Patricia Mohamed, a 55-year-old woman, was fatally shot in the torso multiple times in the parking lot of the Resorts World Casino. The incident, which occurred around 2:20 a.m. on May 26, 2015, was sparked by a jealous rage.
The man responsible was her ex-boyfriend, 51-year-old Dalton Branch.
Employed by a charter bus company that serviced the casino, Branch had seen Mohamed with her new boyfriend in the parking lot. The sight of them together, and a shared kiss, reportedly sent him into a violent fury. Branch opened fire, tragically striking Mohamed. Her new boyfriend was able to escape the chaos unharmed. After the shooting, Branch fled the scene in his white Dodge Charger, leaving a murder investigation in his wake.
The search for Dalton Branch came to a dramatic and violent end in Brooklyn just a few hours later. Officers with the Queens Warrant Squad spotted his vehicle in a parking lot near Stanley and Pennsylvania avenues around 5:53 a.m. As three officers in an unmarked van approached, Branch immediately opened fire on them with a. 380-caliber firearm. The officers returned fire, striking Branch multiple times. He was transported to Brookdale University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The three officers involved in the exchange of gunfire were treated for tinnitus. With the death of the sole suspect, the case of Patricia Mohamed's murder was closed.
