Curtis Holley, 36, was shot and killed in the Bronx after he flicked his cigarette butt in the direction of three strangers nearby, cops said.
Holley was walking with his wife along 165th St. and Prospect Ave. near his home in Morrisania when a dispute ensued between him and three other gentlemen after he casually flicked his cigarette their way.
“He flicked a cigarette,” a police source said. “It just happened to be in the direction of three individuals. He didn’t mean to do it.”
The dispute escalated, and one of the three men pulled out a gun and shot Holley in his stomach.
He was later taken to Lincoln Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:55 p.m.
After his death, several people spoke with news outlets about what it was like being Holley’s neighbor. He previously lived in Harlem at a temporary housing unit run by New York City.
There, residents state that Holley was asked to leave the unit in July after he allegedly broke a window on the first floor.
Former Neighbor Philip Farrice, 67, stated that Holley had assaulted and robbed him while at the shelter.
“I guess I don’t have to look over my shoulder,” Farrice said as he made the sign of the cross. “It is sad, though.”
Another neighbor remembers Holley has been kind.
“Every time I’d see him, he was on the elevator with his wife, and we would talk,” said Donna Prophete, 55. “He’s a nice guy though. He was very friendly.”
There has been no arrest in the death of Curtis Holley. The shooter, along with his associates, has yet to be identified.
