A homeless man temporarily living with a Queens woman fatally shot her Monday after a heated argument over finances just steps from their building, a witness and police said.
Sydney Lugo, 24, and Tariak Stykes, 34, got into the squabble on the street near 109th Ave. and 120th St. in South Ozone Park about 9:20 a.m., cops said. The one-bedroom apartment belongs to Lugo, who allowed Stykes to share the space.
Police do not believe the pair were romantically involved.
“They were blaming each other for financial problems,” said a 24-year-old neighbor who gave his first name as Islay.
The neighbor told the Daily News the fractious couple lived on the third floor, and he watched the argument escalate from his fourth-floor window.
“He was saying ‘I have all the money in the world and you’re treating me like I’m broke.’ He was bragging about having (food stamps),” Islay said. “He said, ‘You know what?’ He paused, and he just shot her.
“He ended the argument with a bullet. He shot her in the left arm.”
Islay said the victim “was in disbelieve, in shock.”
“She said, almost incoherently, ‘I can’t believe you shot me,’” Islay recounted. “He turned himself into police immediately. He said, ‘I have nothing else on me.’ He put up no resistance whatsoever.”
Medics rushed Lugo to Jamaica Hospital, but she could not be saved.
According to Islay, Lugo had previously angered neighbors by playing loud music in the building.
“She used to leave a boom box in the hallway with the music turned up, facing outward and just leave,” he claimed.
He added that Stykes “was never around very much at all.”
“He was really well put together for someone who is homeless,” Islay said. “He was a pretty calm dude other than this outburst. She was the explosive one.”
Stykes was quickly arrested and charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
Both Stykes and Lugo have been arrested multiple times, police said.
Copyright © 2022, New York Daily News
Copyright © 2022, New York Daily News