A 34-year-old Queens shop owner has died after he was beaten unconscious with a metal pipe while trying to break up a fight over the weekend, police say.
Martin Quiej, owner of Tauros Party Supplies in Woodside, had been in critical condition at Elmhurst General Hospital since the assault early Saturday morning.
Police say Quiej ran outside his shop to break up an argument between his co-worker and another man at about 1:45 a.m. when he was attacked with the pipe, investigators said. He was battered about the head and body, and declared brain-dead Sunday night.
Officers took 21-year-old Victor Mendoza into custody at the scene and recovered the pipe. Attorney information for Mendoza wasn't immediately available.
Video obtained exclusively by NBC 4 New York shows a man screaming threats and anti-Mexican slurs at Quiej's co-worker outside the party supply store the night of the attack. Quiej is then seen walking out of the store to defuse the situation -- and then the attacker turns on him.
Quiej, a father of two, was brutally beaten with the pipe. Witnesses called 911 as they watched the horrifying attack unfold.
The shop owner had been working late editing videos for children's parties, family members told NBC 4 New York. He lived above the store with his family.
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"He came from Guatemala for a better future here, he had his own store. And now he lost everything," said cousin Martha Munoz during a vigil held for him Wednesday. Hundreds showed up to mourn him.
The victim's 9-year-old son, also named Martin, said, "He's an angel right now. I want God to keep him safe right there, up there."
Family members want to know why the second person seen in the video hasn't been arrested.
"My message to that second person is to come forward," said Munoz. "If the family knows what he did, or the person that's missing, bring him to justice."
