Bodega owners outraged over the death of a Brooklyn store clerk who was shot by a customer over a $2 cigarillo have raised money to support the victim’s family and help cops catch his killer.
Days after Nazim Berry was shot in the head outside the Amin Deli in Crown Heights, cops were still searching for the man who came gunning for Berry after the store worker refused to give him a Black & Mild for free.
Members of the United Bodegas of America said losing Berry was like losing one of their own. They donated $8,000 toward his burial expenses and another $10,000 for information that leads to the arrest of his killer.
“We lost one of our co-workers,” said Fernando Mateo of the bodega group. “Unfortunately, we can’t bring him back. He was shot in the head over a minor incident that turned violent.”
Officers found Berry, 36, outside the store on Franklin Ave. near Lincoln Place around 4:15 p.m. Monday, cops said.
Medics rushed him to Kings County Hospital, but he could not be saved.
A thin trail of blood led from the scene of the crime and down the block, leading police to believe the killer may have wounded himself during the violence.
Cops released images of the shooting suspect, seen sporting glasses and a black-and-white varsity jacket with the letter “D” on the left side.
Berry’s anguished mother, Danette Hollie, thanked the bodega owners for their support.
“This donation of $8,000 means the world to my family,” she said. “We didn’t have the money to lay Nazim to rest. No one stepped up and covered the cost. No one has offered financial help during this terrible loss.
“I’m so grateful that my son will have a decent resting place,” Hollie added. “He was a good boy who loved working in bodegas across the city.”
Bodegas have been plagued by violence in recent years. In 2022, a judge dismissed a murder charge against a bodega worker, Jose Alba, 61, who fatally stabbed a man in what was determined to be a case of self-defense.
In 2018, gang members chased 15-year-old Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz into a Bronx bodega and beat him to death outside after mistaking him for a rival gang member.
Hollie’s best friend Delia Berry, who was no relation to the victim, remembered him as kindhearted.
“Naz was an old soul that was in a young person. He would carry your bags if you wasn’t able to,” she said of the slain bodega worker.
“He respected the community and respected himself,” the friend added. “He was loved.”
