In March 2023, Sueng Chul Choi, a 67-year-old male of Korean descent, was working a late-night shift at an Upper East Side deli, a job he considered dangerous. His life took a tragic turn when a man, later identified as 42-year-old Kimond Cyrus, entered the establishment. The series of events that followed were both terrifying and swift.
Cyrus, disguised in a hooded hazmat suit, first ordered a customer to the ground. He then went behind the counter and began to pistol-whip Choi.
The brutal assault escalated until the gun discharged, striking Choi in the head. Despite the prompt arrival of emergency services, the wound proved fatal. Friends and family described Choi as a man who had become somewhat estranged from his loved ones, having divorced and with his children living far away. He had originally moved to the United States from Seoul in 1978.
A few days after the incident, police apprehended Kimond Cyrus in the Bronx. Investigations revealed that this was not an isolated event, as Cyrus was linked to three other gunpoint robberies in different boroughs. In October, Cyrus pleaded guilty to murder and criminal possession of a weapon. He admitted to changing into the hazmat suit in a Bronx building before riding a moped to the Manhattan deli. For the murder of Sueng Chul Choi, Kimond Cyrus was sentenced to 24 years to life in prison.
