Police Search For Man Who Mistakenly Killed Friend

Drew B. Casseus

Staten Island police are searching for the young man who fatally shot his best friend—by mistake—during a street fight gone sour. Police believe that Drew B. Casseus was backing up his friend Jonathan "Beanz" Vazquez in a street fight with an unidentified parolee in Port Richmond last week. Now, Vazquez's mother is worried about Casseus facing street justice for the mistake: “It isn’t like any of us would hurt him, but there are people on the street that are very angry. I’m just praying that he turns himself in. I don’t want to see any more tragedy. An eye for an eye doesn’t work. I don’t want him to take his own life and I don’t want anyone to take his life,” mother Luna Suarez told SILive.

According to police, Casseus shot the 21-year-old parolee in the leg during the confrontation, but one of his bullets hit his friend in the head, killing him. Casseus, 19, has gone missing since the shooting. Suarez said the last time she saw him was just after the incident, before she knew what had happened: “I saw him huffing and puffing, ‘Everything’s crazy out there.’ He was dry-heaving and gagging out my back door.” Casseus and Vasquez had been best friends since they were very young; Casseus had even lived with Vazquez’s family for three years, with the two sharing each other’s clothing. Casseus also has a tattoo which depicts the faces of himself, Vazquez and a third man, decorated with the writing, “The Three Monkeys." Casseus was on probation for a petty larceny charge at the time of the incident; and Vazquez had just completed his GED, and was said to be on the straight and narrow before the tragic shooting.

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By Ben Yakas in News on January 5, 2011 1:03 PM

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Erika Dejesus-Weaver

MY NAME IS ERIKA AND YOU ALL SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF .... JONATHAN WAS MY COUSIN AND ALSO THE VICTIM IN THIS SITUATION HE DID NOT LIVE IN NO DAMN PROJECTS AND HE MOST CERTAINLY WAS NOT A PROBLEM CHILD, HE WAS A GOOD PERSON WITH AN EVEN BIGGER HEART AND NOR WAS HE A TROUBLE MAKER UNLESS HE WAS DEFENDING HIS FAMILY OR HIMSELF AND TO EVERYONE ELSE POSTING YOUR RUDE AND DISTURBING ASS COMMENTS GET YOUR DAMN FACTS STRAIGHT 1ST!!!!! HOW DARE YOU MAKE FUN OF THE DEAD!!!! KARMA IS A BITCH AND I CANT WAIT FOR IT 2 COME BACK AROUND FOR GOD DOSE NOT LIKE UGLY!!!!! R.I.P Jonathan & May these Bitch ass people let you finally rest in peace Sincerely, Erika DeJesus

Erika Dejesus-Weaver

Its crazy that your not longer here with us and yet you STILL GOT ALL THESE LAME ASS NO GOOD WHITE TRASH HATTERS WTF IS GOOD WIT THAT!!!!!!!! R.I.P Jonathan "Beanz" Vazquez you will always & forever be missed

Darnell Weaver

MY NAME IS ERIKA AND YOU ALL SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF .... JONATHAN WAS MY COUSIN AND ALSO THE VICTIM IN THIS SITUATION HE DID NOT LIVE IN NO DAMN PROJECTS AND HE MOST CERTAINLY WAS NOT A PROBLEM CHILD, HE WAS A GOOD PERSON WITH AN EVEN BIGGER HEART AND NOR WAS HE A TROUBLE MAKER UNLESS HE WAS DEFENDING HIS FAMILY OR HIMSELF AND TO EVERYONE ELSE POSTING YOUR RUDE AND DISTURBING ASS COMMENTS GET YOUR DAMN FACTS STRAIGHT 1ST!!!!! HOW DARE YOU MAKE FUN OF THE DEAD!!!! KARMA IS A BITCH AND I CANT WAIT FOR IT 2 COME BACK AROUND FOR GOD DOSE NOT LIKE UGLY!!!!! R.I.P Jonathan & May these Bitch ass people let you finally rest in peace Sincerely, Erika DeJesus

jaycjay

"was said to be on the straight and narrow before the tragic shooting."

Hmm... I guess "on the straight and narrow" doesn't mean what I thought it did. It means "always armed with a handgun" now?