The aged gunman accused of capturing a cabbie in a rage over a fare seethed “I’m gonna kill you” earlier than he pulled the set off, new court docket paperwork revealed Wednesday.
Joseph Meeks, 76, allegedly shot 27-year-old cabbie Alusine Barrie round 4:30 p.m. Monday on Nelson Avenue close to West 169th Road in Highbridge, after the irate passenger couldn’t cough up the $40 he owed for a trip from Harlem, based on cops and a union official.
“I’m gonna kill you,” the enraged passenger snarled earlier than whipping out a gun and capturing Barrie within the abdomen, the court docket papers revealed.
The heartless shooter then casually went residence to his senior residing facility on the road the place the sufferer had dropped him off and left his firearm out within the open, cops stated.
Barrie instructed The Submit in an unique Tuesday interview from his hospital mattress that he had no clue his passenger – who seemed to be drunk – had a gun till it was too late.
“He simply get out,” stated Barrie, who was on a respiratory machine. “He closed his door, he circled and shot me. I attempted to place the automotive in drive, he circled and shot me.”
Barrie then opened the door and fell out of the automotive with images displaying him mendacity down on his again as first responders and his mom cared for him in the course of the road.
After Barrie was shot, he referred to as his mom who lives close by and was even in a position to take images of the sinister septuagenarian hovering over him.
“He instructed me that, ‘Mother, Mother, please come, I’m dying. Come, allow us to speak, please, please.’ I get there shortly,” Barrie’s mom, Haja Idrissa Bahm, stated.
“He’s on the bottom,” Bahm instructed The Submit. “He inform me, ‘Mother, I’m sorry about every thing that I did to you,’ I stated ‘No, it is going to be okay, it is going to be okay, don’t say that.’”
Cops arrested Meeks about three-and-a-half hours later inside his residence, police stated.
Inside Meeks’ unit, the arresting officer discovered a silver 25 caliber pistol loaded with 5 reside rounds within the journal, every topped with a metallic projectile, “in plain view” on the lounge desk, the court docket docs stated.
Meeks has quite a few prior arrests, together with two current busts the place the fees weren’t bail eligible below the state’s lax legal justice insurance policies.
He was hit with costs of menacing and fourth-degree legal possession of a weapon stemming from an April 29, 2024 incident wherein he allegedly was armed with a gun and threatened to kill a sufferer, based on Manhattan prosecutors.
Meeks was additionally slapped with costs of petit larceny and fifth-degree legal possession of stolen property stemming from an alleged automotive break-in on June 19, the Manhattan District Lawyer’s Workplace stated.
Barrie has been within the nation for about 9 years and sends a reimbursement to his spouse and baby in Guinea.
He’s been working for a similar firm since 2023, based on Fernando Mateo, of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers.
“It is a very senior citizen, 76, I imply, you’ve lived your life virtually, proper?” Mateo instructed reporters of Meeks. “Hopefully, you’ll be able to reside until you’re 80 or 90, however he’s lived most of his life. Why is he attempting to take a younger man’s life away?”
Meeks – who was charged with tried homicide, assault, legal possession of a weapon and harassment – was ordered held on $25,000 money bail or $75,000 bond throughout his Tuesday night arraignment.
His subsequent court docket date is about for Friday.
