{"id":177764,"date":"2026-03-27T22:14:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T22:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/177764\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T22:14:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T22:14:08","slug":"father-of-man-killed-in-queens-bar-shooting-says-hes-praying-for-the-suspects-i-feel-bad-for-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/177764\/","title":{"rendered":"Father of man killed in Queens bar shooting says he’s praying for the suspects: “I feel bad for them”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The father of a man killed in a shooting at a Queens bar earlier this week is mourning the loss of his youngest child, while also expressing empathy for his killers.<\/p>\n

Demitri McKay Jr., 29, was fatally shot just after 1 a.m. Tuesday at Hangar 11 bar and restaurant in Kew Gardens.<\/p>\n

The victim’s father, Demitri McKay Sr., said detectives believe his son was the unintended target of a gang-related shooting. No arrests have been made at this time.<\/p>\n

\"Suspects<\/p>\n

Police are searching for two people in connection to a deadly shooting inside a Queens bar on March 24, 2026.<\/p>\n

NYPD Crime Stoppers<\/p>\n

McKay Jr. was an MTA bus driver, the youngest of three children, and a father himself. He was once an usher at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church of Hollis, where his father is currently a deacon.<\/p>\n

“It’s so hard for my wife and I because his bedroom is two doors down from ours, and you know, just to pass his bedroom…” McKay Sr. said.<\/p>\n

The father’s grief is overwhelming, but he said he holds no anger toward the suspects, instead offering forgiveness.<\/p>\n

“I feel bad for them, and I’ve been praying for them. And honestly, I forgive them because they look young,” he said. “Even if they catch them, it’s not gonna bring my son back.”<\/p>\n

\"Demitri<\/p>\n

Demitri McKay Jr.<\/p>\n

Photo provided<\/p>\n

McKay Sr. said he was incarcerated early in life and has spent the rest of it working to build a foundation. His son and two daughters were raised in what he describes as a loving, two-parent household grounded in faith.<\/p>\n

McKay Sr. shared a text message his son sent him about a month before his death: “Life is a beautiful thing that we were all blessed to experience. And I thank God for the ones put into my life. I’ve got faith that there’s another life after this one. And we’ll rekindle with the ones we love and sought after … The beauty of life is unknown, so we might as well enjoy what we have in front of us. Love you, pop, and I’m here for you always. God bless.”<\/p>\n

A celebration of life for McKay Jr. will take place at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church of Hollis on April 10.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The father of a man killed in a shooting at a Queens bar earlier this week is mourning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-177764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}