Nasalik Espinosa, 21, was arrested last Friday in Yonkers and charged with murder, manslaughter, robbery and possession of a loaded gun for the slaying of Aboubacar Toure

The Bronx auto shop worker slain by couple trying to steal his car as brother helplessly watched

Toure, 34, died December 29,y following an escalating physical confrontation at the auto body shop he runs at E. 167th St. and Park Ave. in Morrisania, NYC

Espinosa and a woman tried to steal Toure’s Nissan Sentra from the auto shop parking lot by hiring a tow truck company to remove it

The couple claimed the vehicle belonged to them and needed to be relocated

Confronted by the car owner, the argument escalated, Espinosa “engaged in a physical confrontation with Aboubacar Toure, including grabbing, striking and pushing” the victim

Espinosa at some point went back to his car and retrieved a gun and the suspect still on the run fired

Toure was shot in the hip and was pronounced dead at a local hospital

Police in New York have charged a suspect in the brazen shooting of a Bronx auto shop worker last week by a man trying to steal the victim’s car by getting the vehicle towed away.
The vehicle owner Aboubacar Toure, 34, died Thursday following an escalating physical confrontation at the auto body shop where he works at E. 167th St. and Park Ave. in Morrisania, police said.
The alleged shooter, Nasalik Espinosa, 21, was arrested last Friday in Yonkers and charged with murder, manslaughter, robbery and possession of a loaded gun for the slaying of Aboubacar Toure, cops said.
A manhunt has been launched for his female friend, the second suspect in the killing, who remains on the run.
The crime according to police, unfolded after Nasalik Espinosa and a female friend spotted Toure’s Nissan Sentra in the shop and came up with a plan steal it. The pair hired a tow truck driver, telling him the car was theirs and needed to be moved.
Toure, who lived in Harlem, was was working at the Bronx auto shop around 5 p.m. on December 29, when the tow truck showed up.
The victim was trying to send the tow truck away when Espinosa and the woman jumped out of a Toyota Camry parked nearby and began arguing with him, an NYPD spokesman said. The confrontation was caught on surveillance video viewed by cops.

As the argument escalated, Espinosa “engaged in a physical confrontation with Aboubacar Toure, including grabbing, striking and pushing” the victim, according to the criminal complaint against the suspect.
Espinosa at some point reportedly, went back to his car and retrieved a gun and the suspect still on the run fired. Toure was hit in the hip during the confrontation and the bullet struck an artery. He was pronounced dead at Lincoln Hospital.
The would-be car thieves jumped back in their Camry and sped off, but their flight was caught on surveillance cameras including the make, model and license plate of the getaway car which was sent out to law enforcement.
New York State Troopers and Westchester police located the stolen car in Yonkers the next day. They took Espinosa and one other person into custody without incident. The female suspect remains at large and is still being sought, cops said.
A Bronx Criminal Court judge ordered Espinosa held without bail during a brief arraignment Sunday. Charges against the person arrested with Espinosa were pending Wednesday.