A man beaten into critical condition by a gang member during an early-morning Queens mugging died more than two years later — and his death has been deemed a homicide, police said Thursday.
Jose Vasquez was just two blocks from home when he was jumped by two crooks on 32nd Ave. near 101st St. in East Elmhurst about 4 a.m. on June 8, 2023, cops said.
The muggers crept up from behind and punched Vasquez repeatedly, leaving him with a head injury as they ran off with his wallet.
Medics rushed Vasquez, who was 58 at the time, to Elmhurst Hospital in critical condition.
Six weeks later, police arrested 18-year-old Jassan Abrams for the mugging, charging him with attempted murder, robbery, and assault, officials said. He was ultimately convicted of robbery and is currently serving six years in prison, public records show.
The second suspect is still being sought.
Abrams, who lives in the Bronx, is a member of the “5zzly” gang which operates both out of Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens, according to prosecutors.
Vasquez clung to life for more than two years before dying on Nov. 27. The city Medical Examiner determined his death was linked to the assault and deemed his case a homicide, NYPD officials announced Thursday.
Abrams, according to cops, could now face upgraded charges.
The 5zzly crew is a subset of the Bloods. In 2023, Bronx prosecutors indicted 12 members, including Abrams, ranging in age between 16 and 22 for murder, attempted murder, conspiracy and a slew of other charges for a crime spree dating to February 2021.
The defendants are accused of multiple shootings across the Bronx and an assortment of robberies, some in broad daylight, including attacks targeting victims between 69 and 72 years old, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said at the time.
In one instance, authorities said, a video captured a shootout involving the crew as a mother stood nearby with her dancing child before the bullets began flying. That was just one of 23 violent incidents documented in court papers.
“These defendants terrorized the people of the Bronx, carrying out these shootings and robberies in broad daylight, sending Bronxites running for cover,” Clark said at the time.
Abrams, whose nickname is “Bando,” was indicted with his fellow gang members about two months after he was arrested for the attack on Vasquez.
In the indictment, Abrams and two other gang members are accused of robbing a 39-year-old man in Queens on June 19, 2023, 11 days after the attack on Vasquez.
In that case, the victim had just parked his car on Petit Ave. near Ketcham St. in Elmhurst when Abrams and co-defendants Abdoul Azika and Jaquell Blackwell allegedly approached, pulled a gun and demanded his belongings.
The trio robbed the victim of his wallet and cell phone before running off, prosecutors say. The victim was not hurt.
Abrams is also accused of committing three other gunpoint robberies in May 2023. One of their victims was 69. Another was 73.
Other crew members took part in 10 shootings against rival gang members.
One of the shootings resulted in the May 25, 2021, death of 32-year-old Ariel Santos as he sat in a black Mercedes at Arthur Ave. and E. 178th St. in East Tremont, prosecutors said.