Accused UES Bodega Shooter Kimond Cyrus Indicted: DA

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The hazmat suit-wearing man accused of fatally shooting a beloved Upper East Side bodega worker was formally indicted on Thursday, prosecutors said.

Kimond Cyrus — accused of murdering of Sueng Choi, 67, in the the Daona Deli on East 81st Street and Third Avenue on March 3 — was charged with murder in the first and second degree, plus two counts of felony criminal possession of a weapon, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's office.

“Kimond Cyrus allegedly murdered Sueng Chul Choi in a brutal, chilling act of violence,” said Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg Thursday. “Bodegas are essential threads woven throughout our Manhattan communities. We mourn the tragic loss of Mr. Choi and will continue to use every tool at our disposal to keep our hardworking bodega and deli workers safe.”

Choi, known as Michael around the neighborhood, lost his life in a failed robbery late-night when Cyrus, 39, burst into the store, pulled out a gun and demanded cash, prosecutors contend.

Cyrus began to pistol-whip the overnight clerk with his gun, which then went off and fatally shot Choi in the head, officials claim.

The would-be robber fled on a blue moped towards Concourse Village in The Bronx, where police said he robbed another deli just minutes after the shooting.

A few days later, police found his discarded hazmat suit just outside the Bronx deli.

Police arrested Cyrus less than a week after the shooting when a tip led them to his Bronx apartment, where they found a blue moped and a black pistol.

Police also said that Cyrus robbed three other bodegas at gunpoint while dressed in a Tyvek suit in the week of the March 3 killing.

The shooting shocked the Upper East Side — and the city — prompting Mayor Eric Adams and police officials to call for mask-wearing shoppers to remover their masks prior to entering a store, which Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey described as a "peace offering."

But when Patch went to ask bodega workers around the city what they thought of the idea, most were unaware of the announcement and said while they'd prefer to see people's faces, they wouldn't start asking customers to remove their masks.