The heartbroken family of the immigrant grandfather killed by a stray bullet while driving said they remain steadfast in their pursuit for justice at his sorrowful send-off in Long Island Saturday.
“This marks the end of this part of the process but we still have a lot to do in terms of ensuring that my dad gets justice and pursuing that,” victim William Alcindor’s youngest daughter, Gabriella Alcindor, said. “We’re not done yet.”
Alcindor, 25, said the family will attend every court hearing for the 15-year-old gunman, who cops quickly arrested two days after the Sept. 16 slaying.
“I’m happy it was swift,” she said. “That he was picked up very quickly. That it’s not a question anymore — like, ‘Who did it? Where is he?’”
Scores of mourners gathered at an Elmont Catholic church before heading to a Farmingdale, L.I., cemetery to bury William Alcindor. The hard-working immigrant granddad was killed by a stray bullet while driving home from work on Sept. 16. (Emma Seiwell for New York Daily News)
The teen suspect allegedly opened fire on a rival from the parking lot of the Popeye’s restaurant near 117th Rd. and Farmers Blvd. in St. Albans, and instead struck and killed 66-year-old William Alcindor as he was driving by, heading home from work in his Nissan SUV.
“It stings. It stings,” said William’s nephew Andy Alexis, 40. “It was violent. He had nothing to do with the situation at hand, and he lost his life, just for being at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
After he was shot, Alcindor lost control of his car and plowed into a 23-year-old woman crossing the street, before crashing into a building. The injured pedestrian was taken to Jamaica Hospital in stable condition.
Relatives described Alcindor, who hailed from Cavaillon, Haiti, as a hard-working immigrant father of three. Some family members said they didn’t even know Alcindor was back at work after recent health problems had sidelined him from his job delivering car parts.
Family and friends said goodbye to William Alcindor at his burial in Farmingdale, L.I. (Emma Seiwell for New York Daily News)
Alexis, who flew in from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, joined scores of mourners in the pews at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Elmont to honor his uncle.
A portrait of Alcindor smiling sat propped up on an easel beside his silver and black casket.
Following the funeral Mass, a lengthy car procession drove by Alcindor’s Cambria Heights home, just over the Queens border, before heading for Pinelawn Cemetery in Farmingdale, L.I. where he was laid to rest.
Gabriella Alcindor said she found solace in the large turnout for her father’s service.
“The amount of support… That procession line — it wrapped around that block,” she said. “We always knew dad had a lot of people who loved him, but to actually, tangibly see them meant so much.”
Scores of mourners gathered at an Elmont Catholic church before heading to a Farmingdale cemetery for William Alcindor’s burial. (Emma Seiwell for New York Daily News)
In the cemetery, colorful flower arrangements, adorned with satin sashes — the words “Beloved Grandfather” written across them — were arrayed in front of Alcindor’s grave. Mourners placed carnations and roses beside them before Alcindor’s casket was then lowered into the ground.
Alexis remembered his uncle as a calm man who could always lend an open ear for one’s troubles.
“He definitely was the type to hear you, if you had an issue. He was a real good listener,” Alexis said. “I can’t think of a time that I saw him lose his temper or anything like that.”
When asked what she’d miss most about her father, Gabriella said it would be the simple comfort that they found together in silence.
“Just being with him. I’m a yapper. But when I’m with him, you can sit in silence for hours,” she explained. “We’d sit in silence, just driving. We didn’t need words. We didn’t need words. So just being with him, next to him, close to me, that’s all I need.”
