Detectives have arrested a man they say pointed out a car to a gunman who blasted away at the vehicle in East Harlem 18 months ago, fatally shooting a beloved grandfather inside, police said Friday.
Herbert Byrd, 47, was charged with murder and weapons possession for helping triggerman Tito Llanes kill Sylvester “Big West” Topping on E. 115th St. near First Ave. on Sept. 11, 2021.
Topping, 57, and a handful of people had gotten into a vehicle near the corner when Byrd “pointed him out to his accomplice who immediately repeatedly fired a gun into the rear driver’s side window of the car as the car pulled away,” according to a complaint filed in Manhattan Criminal Court.
His fiancée told the Daily News this week that Topping was killed by a stray bullet that blasted through the car window.
They were attending a friend’s birthday party when a bullet struck the victim, she said. Topping was declared dead of the gunshot wound at Metropolitan Hospital after the 1:30 a.m. shooting.
“A lot of us who were there didn’t know what happened, didn’t know who was shooting, where the shooting was coming from,” the fiancée recalled. “Everybody was getting [up] to leave the party, and I don’t know if something was going on.”
Even though Byrd pointed out the car to Llanes., it was not immediately clear if the two had meant to kill Topping or another person in the vehicle.
Topping was a Bronx resident who lived in the Morrisania neighborhood. Byrd lived in Washington Heights. Llanes lived in Boreum Hill, Brooklyn.
The father of three, stepfather of two and grandfather of three was renowned in the Bronx for his love of cooking and big heart, according to an online obituary. He lived in the Morrisania neighborhood.
“If you know Big West, then you know that he was he was the community chef providing an array of foods such as turkey wings [and] steak and fish sandwiches, just to name a few of his specialties,” his family wrote at the time.
Llanes, 27, was arrested Wednesday for the 2021 slaying and charged with murder, assault, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment.
Both he and Byrd were ordered held without bail following their arraignments.
Topping’s fiancée, who wished not to be named, said she was happy to hear that Topping’s killer was behind bars.
“I’m happy that they got him,” the fiancée told the Daily News after cops busted suspect Tito Llanes in the fatal shooting. “I’m happy. I didn’t feel like there was going to be a breakthrough.”