A 34-year-old father of two has died from injuries sustained after two men beat him in the head with a pipe in Woodside. The incident occurred over the weekend, and though the NYPD arrested one suspect, the second is still at large.
Police say Martin Quiej, 34, was editing children's birthday party videos at the party supply store he owned in the vicinity of Roosevelt Avenue and 54th Street at around 1:45 a.m. on Saturday when one of his co-workers got into an argument with two other men right next door—according to surveillance video, one of the suspects screamed anti-Mexican slurs at the co-worker.
Quiej, an immigrant from Guatemala, reportedly grabbed a metal pole to fend off the attackers and break up the fight, but one of them apparently managed to get it from him and hit him in the head with it.
He was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital and died Tuesday, leaving behind a 4-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son. "They miss him so much. They ask for him,” his wife, Guadalupe Serrano, told the Daily News of his children. “He was a hardworking man who dedicated himself to his family. He didn't deserve to be attacked like this, to die like this.” Family members are trying to raise funds for Quiej's funeral.
One suspect, 21-year-old Victor Mendoza, was arrested on Sunday and charged with attempted murder, assault, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal mischief and aggravated harassment. Police say he may have been drunk at the time of the attack.
