Witnesses say 21-year-old Allen McQueen was holding his baby girl Taylor in his arms, enjoying the afternoon surrounded by children on this hot summer day, when all of a sudden there was the frightening sound of gunfire.
“I saw him take his last breath. I saw him spit up blood. I grabbed the baby from underneath him, she was drenched in blood,” said Arielle Corkery, a witness. “She was in shock she was just staring up into the sky.”
It happened around 1:30 Tuesday afternoon across the street from Taylor Playground in the Parkchester section of the Bronx.
Police say the suspect approached the victim, shot at him and missed.
McQueen, holding his 13-month-old daughter, then ran down Taylor Avenue and the suspect fired two additional rounds at the victim, striking him once in the back.
Police say the suspect then fled in a grey Mercedes with unknown NY Plates.
Witnesses say the bullet was just inches away from hitting his daughter.
“I just saw a bunch of kids ducking looking for cover. The park scattered like a bomb went off. Just a frozen when everything happened,” said Luis, a witness.
McQueen died at Jacobi Hospital.
His daughter suffered just a bump on her head and was treated and released from Jacobi Hospital.
Family members are frightened and hoping a suspect is caught soon.
“He was a good dad. He saw Taylor a lot,” said Bianca, the baby’s aunt. “Just knowing something could’ve happened, we’re very close and now he’s gone. Her daughter will never have a father again.”
Tuesday night, blue police tape was replaced with candles and notes to the victim’s family, as a neighborhood did its best to cope with what happened.
“To do that to someone with a baby in their arms, I just can’t understand that. I feel for the baby, now she grows up without her dad,” Corkery said.
What he done get him self into…. Glad the lil one is ok.