The outraged older sister of an innocent bystander gunned down during a robbery spree in Brooklyn and the Bronx by a cold-hearted ex-con still at large condemned the shooting Thursday, saying that she was appalled by the “senseless violence.”
“It didn’t have to go that way,” Tayvon “Plucky” Shuler’s sister Tanasha Neal told the Daily News. “I was surprised, shocked. angered, and just appalled by people (who are) going to kill people for a little bit, for things that are not even worth it.”
“I don’t think that my brother should have died or lost his life,” she said about Tayvon. “I don’t think he’s gotten to live his life out fully and truly.”
“I just hope he makes it in the afterlife, and he’s spiritually doing okay,” she said.
Gunman Jesus Acosta, 31, shot Shuler in the chest as he shopped inside the 149 Grill & Deli on E. 149th St. near Walton Ave. in Mott Haven around 12:15 a.m. Tuesday, cops said.
Shuler, 33, was one of two men Acosta allegedly gunned down within 48 hours, said police.
Shuler had a 14-year-old son and worked at an autobody shop in Brooklyn where he lived.
“It feels horrible,” Neal, 34, said about her brother’s death, which has gone viral online. “When someone dies, you want to know how they died, but you don’t necessarily want to see it. So the fact that this is going viral, it’s very traumatizing in a way.”
Shuler’s sister said her brother’s death has spurred an outpouring of grief from friends throughout the city.
“He was known in the Bronx, Harlem, Brooklyn, Queens. He has friends from all over that are like reaching out to us and really sending their condolences,” said Neal. “I didn’t know how loved he was, how appreciated he was, and the amount of people that are grieving him is just, I didn’t expect that.”
Shuler was in the deli when Acosta burst through the doors, cops said. Surveillance video shows a cashier step away from the register before the suspect rushes into view and grabs as much cash as he can before fleeing.
Shuler was rushed to Lincoln Hospital, where he died.
Neal said her brother enjoyed playing video games and sports, including football and basketball. He was nicknamed “Plucky” after a cartoon duck.
The victim’s sister said she has no idea why her brother was at the Bronx deli where he was killed.
On Wednesday, the FBI posted a $25,000 award for information leading to Acosta’s arrest. That reward is in addition to the $10,000 offered by the United Bodegas of America for his capture.
Just over 48 hours before Shuler was killed, Acosta shot two workers, one fatally, while attempting to rob American Best Wings & Pizza on Rockaway Ave. in Brownsville on Sunday, police said.
Medics rushed both victims to Brookdale University Hospital. MD Yousuf, 44, who was struck in the head, could not be saved.
Another worker there, age 39, was shot in the leg and is recovering, police said.
Yousuf immigrated from Bangladesh and sent his wages back to support his large family, including two young daughters, aged 3 and 12, the restaurant’s co-owner told the Daily News Tuesday.
“This is very sad,” the co-owner said. “He came from a very poor family … Honestly, I don’t know how they will survive afterwards since their only provider is no more.”
Acosta shot the victims while trying to rob the eatery, police said.
His parole officer recognized him from a surveillance video, which was circulated amongst law enforcement and in local news stories, and alerted authorities, cops said. Acosta is due to complete parole in 2030.
Acosta has 13 prior arrests, including for robbery in 2010 when he was just 14, police say.
In May 2015 at age 19, he shot a man on an East Harlem subway platform after they argued on an uptown No. 2 train, cops said. The two men got off the train at the 110th St. station, and Acosta shot the victim in the arm. Acosta was arrested for attempted murder, assault, weapon possession and reckless endangerment.
He pleaded to assault and weapon possession and was released on parole in April after serving 10 years in state prison.
Cops say Acosta’s last known address is in the Soundview area of the Bronx. He is described as 5-foot-11 and has “Bronx” tattooed on his hand and “Bobby” tattooed on his left forearm.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.