Hazmat suit shooter identified by what lay underneath: Manhattan prosecutors

Kymond Cyrus, a former prisoner accused of killing a popular grocery store clerk and robbing at least three other stores, was identified because he left the front of his hazmat suit open, revealing similar clothing he wore during each crime, prosecutors said in a statement. Friday. .

Cyrus, 39, wore different hazmat suits during different robberies, but the clothes he wore underneath were the same – camouflage pants and a dark sweatshirt with white lettering, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Gregory SanGermano said at the arraignment of murder suspect in Criminal Court. Manhattan. .

According to San Germano, CCTV footage showing Cyrus without his hazmat suit but wearing the clothes he was wearing at the time of the murder helped detectives identify him.

“Because he was followed before and after the incident, what matters is the clothes that the accused wore before and after the murder,” said SanGermano.

On Friday, Cyrus was ordered to be held without bail on charges of murder and possession of a weapon. Dressed in a brown jacket, blue sweatshirt, jeans and a blue surgical mask, the former prisoner remained silent during the brief trial, answering only “Yes” when asked if he understood what was going on.

A search warrant was executed at his Bronx apartment Friday, prosecutors said.

He was caught outside his home in the Bronx around 10:40 a.m. Thursday after NYPD homicide and shooting officers tracked security footage from one of his crimes straight to his front door.

The former prisoner is accused of robbing two stores in Brooklyn before heading to Daona Gourmet Deli on the Upper East Side on March 3 and shooting 67-year-old worker Suang Choi during a botched robbery, police said.

According to court documents, the bullet went through Choi’s left arm and went through the top of his forehead.

After killing Choi, Cyrus jumped on a moped and sped off to the Bronx, where he robbed a Ya Ya Deli restaurant at Melrose Avenue and 160th Street about 22 minutes later, police said.

Police later found one of his hazmat suits behind a building that was a five-minute walk from Ya Ya Deli, police said.

The first break in the case came on Sunday when an informant called an NYPD hotline and said he saw a suspect, dressed in a military uniform and riding a blue moped, drive into a Camilla grocery store near Croton Park in the Bronx.

A Camilla Grocery worker told the Daily News that a customer spotted Cyrus loitering outside the store on the same day of the murder, even though he never robbed the place.

According to the worker, who identified himself only as Alberto, on Monday, police took footage from the store’s security cameras.

According to court documents, detectives searched the area and found more footage of Cyrus wearing the same clothes he wore under a hazmat suit on the night of the murder, as well as footage of him donning a hazmat suit.

“It was good old-fashioned police work,” Mayor Adams said.

Customers were worried about Choi working the night shift alone.

“He knows it’s a dangerous place to work,” said Choi’s ex-wife Jenny Chung, 66. “I don’t talk to him much, but every time I talk to him on the phone, maybe once a year, he tells me it’s dangerous.”

Cyrus pleaded guilty to assault in 2003 for a brutal assault in midtown Manhattan. According to documents, in 2002 he beat a man and splashed him in the eyes with a burning liquid, and then hit him on the head with a glass bottle. As his victim lay on the sidewalk, Cyrus stole his wallet.

He also has a 2009 arrest for drunk driving and a 2020 arrest for bail evasion in Mount Vernon, Westchester County.

Cyrus’ lawyer Adam Freeman said Friday he plans to make a “strong defense.”

Choi’s murder prompted NYPD and Adams to call on store owners to ask shoppers to remove their masks when entering a store — at least long enough for their faces to be visible.

“Face masks have protected us from COVID, but they actually allow criminals to use it,” the mayor said, holding a black surgical mask. “We can ensure public safety and health. They go together.”