Crime Scene Unit investigators on Sunday collected evidence in and around the car rapper Chinx was driving when he was shot and killed on Queens Boulevard and 84th Drive. Forum Photo by Robert Stridiron.
Popular hip-hop artist and Ozone Park resident Chinx was shot to death early Sunday morning as he drove his luxury sedan on Queens Boulevard near 84th Drive in Briarwood, according to police, witnesses and published reports.
After performing at a Brooklyn club, Chinx, born Lionel Pickens, was waiting at a red light with a friend in a late-model, silver Porsche Panamera around 4 a.m. when an assailant pulled up next to his car, opened fire and sped away, according to several accounts. The 31-year-old Far Rockaway native absorbed at least eight slugs, The New York Times reported. His passenger, Antar Alziadi, 27, who also goes by the stage name Yemen Chee$e, suffered two bullet wounds to the back.
Both victims were rushed to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where Chinx was pronounced dead. Alziadi indicated on social media that he would be leaving the hospital this week.
“As soon as I heard the shots I ducked,” said Raymond Rivera, 19, who was walking with friends near the scene at the time of the incident. “[Chinx] was motionless—no screams. I’m pretty sure he was dead [before help arrived].”
Vasco Alder, who grew up with Chinx, told The Forum that he’s still in shock.
“This stuff happens all the time, but when it’s close it hurts,” he said. “It definitely hurts.”
Pickens is survived by his fiancée, Janelli Caceres, and their three children.
By Michael V. Cusenza michael@theforumnewsgroup.com
