Christopher Hightower, a man found fatally wounded on a street near his Queens (NYC) home in May of last year was the victim of a dispute over a parking space, the NYPD recently determined.
No arrests have been made, but the New York police have identified a suspect and are working with the Queens district attorney’s office on possible charges, it posted. Daily News..
Hightower, a 58-year-old father of six, had overcome drug and alcohol challenges until he ran into an obstacle he couldn’t overcome: an angry neighbor, according to his family.
Police said Hightower was beaten near his home on 176th Street near Brinkerhoff Avenue in the Jamaica neighborhood shortly before 11 a.m. on May 22, 2022 that left him with a lacerated spleen and a head wound. .
Paramedics rushed him to Jamaica Hospital, where the Pennsylvania native succumbed to his injuries the next day. Hightower, who was heavily intoxicated at the time, died of blunt force trauma to his head and body, the medical examiner recently determined, ruling his death a homicide.
The unidentified neighbor with whom the victim had a physical altercation said he was only trying to protect his family. “Self defense,” he stated to the Daily News, saying that Hightower appeared drunk on his property and that he felt threatened when he confronted him. “I am not worried about the situation at all. I did not do anything wrong. I feel sorry for his family and his ex-wife. I wish you the best.”
In a similar case also in Queens last month, the boyfriends Arturo Cuevas (30) and Daisy Barrera (27) were arrested and charged with attempted murder as suspects for the brutal attack on their neighbor Wilson Chabla Lliguicota (28) in an alleged fight for a parking space.
In November Jason Freeman (36) died violently after being struck several times by a driver who fled the scene after a fight over a parking space in New Jersey.
Days before, a man was sentenced to between 40 years and life in prison after he stabbed two people and ran over five pedestrians, killing his friend, during an argument over a parking space in Queens (NYC).
In July, a Hispanic man was shot while working in a parking lot in Brooklyn (NYC) for “Law & Order”, a legendary TV series on crime.
Previously, in March 2022, a 43-year-old man was fatally shot in his building following an apparent dispute over a parking space in Brooklyn. In December 2021, in that same county, a 63-year-old man was found unconscious with head trauma and police suspect he was fatally struck in a dispute over a double-parked car.
All charges are mere accusations and those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.