The family of slain East Village deli worker Abdul Saleh demanded on Wednesday that his children be allowed to live with their loved ones in the U.S after their father begged for them to be cared for with his dying breath.
The sidewalk and roadway outside of Sal’s Deli and Grocery on 13th Street and Avenue B were filled with mourners on the afternoon of April 29. People left flowers at an ever-growing memorial to the 28-year-old man who had become more than just a neighborhood worker to locals; he had become family. Large photographs of Saleh and his children were lifted at the intersection as onlookers wept.
Saleh’s cousin, Basam Hussein, told amNewYork that the man who killed him had been making threats against him and his brothers for well over a year.
“For the past year, [the suspect] said he was going to kill the brothers, there are four of them. He didn’t know he was going to do it for real; he thought it was just talk. He came home, and that’s what happened,” Hussein said. “He bothered all of them, each one.”
Hussein added that the man charged with his death, 28-year-old Kavone Horton, has been banned from the store because of the threats and prior altercations, sharing that the brothers would often call the police, but they would not arrive for hours after the initial call.
Horton allegedly got into a dispute with Saleh late Saturday night, and the fight spilled onto the street. Brandishing a gun, Horton is accused of firing the fatal shot that not only took the life of Saleh but also injured himself with a ricocheted bullet. As the husband and father lay dying, he begged one of his brothers to bring his kids to the United States and take care of them.
“The only thing he said before he passed away, he said, ‘ Please, brother, take care of my family. That’s the only thing we have left of him. So, that’s the least we can do for him, is take his family from back home to here,” brother Hussein Saleh said. “There are his last wishes before he passed away. He said, ‘Brother, please don’t leave me. Please just take care of my kids. Bring my kids, take my kids.’ That’s it. That’s all he asked for; he doesn’t ask for much.”
According to the family and their advocates, due to an immigration policy implemented by President Trump, Saleh’s wife and children have been unable to relocate to New York. The Saleh family is now calling upon the mayor’s office and New York’s congressional delegation to work urgently with the US State Department to expedite humanitarian travel for his wife and children.
Speakers at the memorial, including representatives from The Alliance of Yemeni American Businesses, rattled off a list of demands, including having a panic button installed in every bodega. Over the last year about 500 panic buttons were installed in storefronts across the city, but there are thousands more that remain unsecured.
