Queens Man Sentenced In 2011 Slaying Of Grocery Store Clerk: DA

QUEENS — A man was sentenced to prison after a shooting at a grocery store in Jamaica left one of its clerks dead in 2011, prosecutors said.

Dewayne Henry, 45, was sentenced to 25 years in prison after fatally shooting Jorge Marte, 65, on the night of July 8, 2011, at the Melani Grocery on Guy Brewer Boulevard, near 112th Street, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.

Henry was initially arrested in 2012 for another robbery, but released due to potential juror misconduct in 2017, and the case was later dismissed after one of the witnesses left the country, the district attorney said.

The 45-year-old from Queens was later re-arrested in 2018 on a weapons charge, and he was charged while in custody with the murder of the grocery store clerk, Katz said.

Henry entered the store about 10 p.m. in 2011 to rob cash from the register, threatening Marte with a firearm and demanding he put the money inside a pillowcase the robber threw on the counter, prosecutors said.

Marte picked up a kitchen knife and ran to the door of the store, but Henry shot him in the chest before fleeing down 112th Road, the district attorney said.

The grocery store clerk was taken to Jamaica Hospital where he was pronounced dead, Katz said.

Henry was arrested weeks later in connection with another grocery store robbery, which led him to prison, and officials confirmed that the same firearm was used in both robberies, prosecutors said.