Murder mystery as Queens man gunned down while sitting in car

JAMAICA (WABC) -- There's a murder mystery in Queens.

A man known as a pillar in the community was shot dead in his car.

A witness to the crime, a longtime friend, is horrified and in shock.

Neighbors were just as stunned and many heard the fatal shot.

He was a beloved youth football coach, a married father of three young kids, and a leader in his Laurelton community.

But Thursday night, 34-year-old Jerwaine Gorman is at the center of a murder mystery.

Who killed him, and why?

His friend Jacques Leandre is searching for answers.

"This is not supposed to happen to someone who's 34 years old, giving back to a community that he loves," Leandre said.

Wednesday afternoon cops say Gorman was sitting in the passenger seat of his Mercedes, in front of the Jamaica home of a female friend. She was in the driver's seat when there was a single gunshot.

"Everything happened so fast," said Samantha Smith, a neighbor.

"Just hear a loud bang. I didn't really pay attention to it and then I heard the screaming," said Jermaine Brathwaite, a neighbor.

The screaming was from Gorman's friend, begging for help after someone walked up to him and executed him.

"It wasn't a pretty sight," Brathwaite said.

"She was really going bonkers. 'Somebody help me help him, something's wrong he's been shot,'" Smith said.

"Seemed like he was a good guy. He had it all together. So you wonder if it could have been random, could have been anybody," Brathwaite said.

Neighbors like Brathwaite say they know that Mercedes and that Gorman would stop by regularly to see his friend.

Witnesses told police the gunman run to a nearby house, where cops found a gun and a shirt matching the shooter's description.