A Manhattan judge denied bail to two men accused of stalking and fatally shooting a well-known sneaker reseller, saying that the murder accusations they face were “the most serious charge a person can face in this state.”
Judge Michele Rodney was not swayed by an attorney’s argument, nor by presence of the parents of one of the defendants accused of gunning down the victim, Javier Osorio-Mejia, 31, on a SoHo street in June.
Cops said Osorio-Mejia’s killers followed him in a rented car with stolen license plates all the way from a strip club in Queens just to snatch the flashy jewelry they saw him showing off on Instagram.
Obtained by Daily News
Javier Osorio-Mejia, who lived in Bayonne, New Jersey, was a high-end sneaker reseller. (Instagram)
“Steps were taken in the planning of these crimes to attempt to hide their identities,” said Rachel Polisner, an assistant Manhattan district attorney.
She said the “meticulously planned” crime culminated with the sidewalk shooting of Osorio-Mejia, who was gunned down in the early-morning hours after he stopped his Range Rover along Greene St. near Grand St. in SoHo, to use a bathroom.
The victim, known professionally as “Upscale Cracc,” was grazed in the head and shot in the leg, and died from the loss of blood from the leg wound, authorities said.
Polisner said the crooks threw the wounded Osorio-Mejia to the ground, then ransacked his body for more than 40 seconds, tearing off his jewelry, plus a Rolex watch from his wrist.
Authorities charged Jayquan Straker, 35, and Marc Haygood, 28, with murder and robbery.
Haygood’s parents traveled from upstate Rochester for the court appearance.
Officials said Straker fired the gun after getting out of the car that Haygood had been driving. They fled the scene in the rental car.
“Marc Haygood and Jayquan Straker planned a violent murder as they followed Mr. Osorio-Mejia into Manhattan, stealing jewelry off his body after fatally shooting him,” Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “Mr. Osorio-Mejia was a well-known sneaker seller, entrepreneur and father whose life was cut short in this senseless tragedy.”
“I hope they rot in jail,” a woman cried out as the defendants left the courtroom.
Straker spent time in jail for his role in a 2010 Brooklyn armed home-invasion case.
Authorities said Straker and an accomplice, dressed as FedEx workers, stormed into a two-family Canarsie home and forced several adults and children, including a 10-year-old and a 6-year-old, to the ground at gunpoint.
One of the adult victims fought back, causing Straker to drop his gun. The 10-year-old picked up the weapon and shot at Straker but missed. Straker’s accomplice, who fired his own gun during the clash without striking anyone, has never been caught, prosecutors said.
Straker ultimately pleaded guilty to burglary in the home invasion case.
