Cops identify neighbor who shot mom from New York

Police have identified a neighbor who they believe shot and killed a Harlem mother in front of her children as she apparently tried to break up an argument this week.

Police say Avery Dunning, 35, shot Jemina Garay, 41, in the head just before 8:30 a.m. Wednesday in the sixth-floor hallway of Lincoln Houses NYCHA on East 135th Street in Manhattan.

Investigators are looking into the possibility that Garay was shot when she tried to intervene in the fight, authorities said.

Police said at least some of her children witnessed the shooting. The neighbor said that Garay had at least six children.

She was shot in the head, stomach and thigh and taken to a Harlem hospital where she is in critical condition.

Police released a photo of Dunning on Thursday evening, as well as a security camera image of him walking down the stairs in the building. He was described as wearing a red jacket with black lettering, and police say he was running on foot towards Harlem River Drive.

Dunning and Garay live in the building where the shooting took place, authorities said.

The victim’s husband identified her during a short phone call with The Post on Wednesday.

“No one thinks that my children will see this,” he said, sobbing. “And they’ll have to relive it over and over again.”

“Her name was JEMINA GARAY and she was the best as hell,” he added of his wife. “That’s all I give to everyone. She was the fucking best.

Tenant Nicole Williams, 52, described Garay as a “good man” who “minds his own business.”

“I love her,” Williams told The Post on Wednesday. “She is the mother of at least six children. She is a very humble person. She doesn’t bother anyone. Everyone in the building brings their dogs to her. She takes care of them. She does everything.”

Another neighbor, Vanessa Gomez, said: “You don’t wake up in the morning thinking this is going to happen.

“My mom was just walking into the building when it happened and she called me in tears so I didn’t know if the shooter was in the building.

“We’re used to gunfights, but we don’t expect that in our building with someone we know,” Gomez, 40, said. “[Garay] didn’t bother anyone. So everyone is in shock. We’re like, “How?” ”