A Long Island man shot to death at the Queens funeral of a suspected Queens drug kingpin, was killed in an apparent money dispute, according to a friend of the victim.
The gunman was lying in wait for Richard Carter outside the Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral in Jamaica, where Carter went to attend the funeral of a friend who had died on Rikers Island while awaiting custody on drug charges.
Cops said they arrested a man, Joseph Stevens, 33, of the Bronx, a day after he was riding a Citi Bike and opened fire on Carter, 49, outside the church on April 10, striking him several times in the chest.
Stevens was charged with murder and possession of a loaded firearm. Cops said witnesses and surveillance video helped identify the shooter.
Carter’s friend said the victim had been trying to help the suspected shooter with some money, but that the ne’er-do-well got greedy.
“He was a f— up,” said the friend, who did not want to be named. “He just got out of jail. He was a problem child. Richard was trying to help him get on his feet and everything,”
The friend said Carter gave Stevens money for clothes and also for a car, but the addict spent it very fast.
“He was burning through his money,” he said. “Rich was done with him.”
The impasse apparently led to a couple of scuffles, including one at a barbershop where Carter was nearly stabbed until one of the men cutting hair intervened.
“The shooter had financial things going on and he became a drug addict and Richard wanted nothing to do with him,” the friend said.
Richard Carter, 49, was fatally shot at Merrick Blvd. and Sayres Ave. near Archie Spigner Park in South Jamaica, Queens, on Friday, April 10, 2026. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
Friends and relatives said Carter, who lived in Valley Stream, made money breeding dogs.
Carter was on his way to a funeral for suspected drug dealer John “Stubby” Price, 49, who suffered an apparent fatal heart attack while in custody awaiting trial.
The hearse, a limousine and row of cars were lined up outside the church when the gunfire erupted, witnesses and mourners who attended the funeral said.
“He was going to pay his respects,” the friend said of the victim.
Carter, who went to high school with Price, had a criminal record of his own, but was turning his life around, the friend said.
“This was the year he was supposed to leave and move to Long Island and he did,” said the friend, who added he went to high school with both men. “He moved to, like, Valley Stream. He was doing better. There was animosity going on. When Stubby died, they thought Richard would fill his shoes and Rich wanted nothing to do with it.”
“Richard was a good dude,” he said. “I didn’t know Rich to have any enemies. He was very generous and good-hearted.”