The wounded brother of a man stabbed to death in a wild Harlem seafood market showdown has been criminally charged for his role in the lethal mayhem sparked by an order of shrimp.
Bobby Burrell, still hospitalized with a collapsed lung suffered in the brawl where a store worker is accused of pulling a knife and fatally stabbing his brother Malik, was charged with robbery, burglary and assault for his role in the Tuesday night melee inside the Express Fish Market.
Malik Burrell was killed on the eve of his 25th birthday, with store workers claiming his brother Bobby tried to leave the store without paying for shrimp during a quarrel with workers before the fatal stabbing, police said.
The Burrell brothers returned to the business shortly after the fistfight between Bobby and a store worker, police said.
Store worker Junior Aquino Hernandez, 34, was charged with murder, assault and weapon possession for the second confrontation after video obtained by cops showed him stabbing both brothers with a large knife. His arraignment was pending in Manhattan Criminal Court Thursday.
Malik Burrell was visiting from Maryland to celebrate his birthday with family when the deadly brawl began around 9:45 p.m. Tuesday. His father, Robert Burrell, insists both sons were innocent of allegations of stealing the shrimp.
“I know damn well my sons ain’t stealing nothing,” the dad told the Daily News. “They have no reason to steal, they have money … My son came up here to chill with his brother and enjoy his birthday, that’s it.”
The father said family members haven’t been allowed to visit Bobby in the hospital as he awaits arraignment.
The family continues to struggle to wrap their head around the slaying.
“Over shrimps?” said Zalmar Eusobio, the mother of Bobby’s 12-year-old daughter.
Hernandez, as he was led from the 30th Precinct stationhouse on Wednesday night in his kitchen scrubs, insisted the whole thing was an accident.
“I’m sorry,” he told reporters. “I didn’t mean to hurt him.”