Beloved bodega owner is tragically killed by stray bullet while searching for her grandson
A beloved New York City bodega owner was tragically killed by a stray bullet while she searched for her grandson.
Excenia Mette, 61, ran outside after hearing a loud argument near her apartment on Lenox Ave in Harlem on Tuesday around 10.20pm, according to police.
As the commotion grew, Mette tried to locate her grandson so he could come back home and avoid the mayhem.
A physical fight then broke out, and despite her grandchild telling her to stay safe inside, Mette, also known as 'Zenny,' ran to break up the scuffle that quickly turned violent, sources told NY Daily News.
Two men pulled out guns and started shooting at each other. Mette got caught in the crossfire and was shot in the head.
Nearby officers rushed to the scene after hearing gunshots to find Mette - who ran the first black female-owned bodega in the Big Apple.
'Her grandson was screaming, "Grandma! Grandma!,' a neighbor named Nana told the New York Post.
Mette was rushed to Mount Sinai Morningside hospital, where she was pronounced dead, the NYPD said.
'The bullets weren't supposed to be for her. Her instincts kicked in – you know your grandson's out there, your niece is out there, adrenaline kicked in. She had to make sure they were OK,' the neighbor added.
Authorities located one of the gunmen, 23-year-old Darious Smith, running away from the scene after he was shot in the foot.
The other shooter ran off and has not yet been caught or identified.
Smith was taken to the same hospital and remains in stable condition. It remains unclear which gunman shot Mette.
Police found eight shell casings and a gun at the scene, sources told The Post.
Mette has been remembered as a trailblazer in the neighborhood who worked as a cook at 67 Deli Corp on the same block she lived.
She opened her very own bodega, Momma Zee's Food to Plez Deli, in 1987.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, her deli, like many businesses, struggled to make ends meet.
A GoFundMe fundraiser was launched to help raise money for her to keep the doors open.
AriZona Ice Tea also agreed to match up to $25,000 of the donations, but unfortunately, she had to close down the business.
Mette, who opened up shop in 2018, specialized in soul food, she previously told CBS News.
Her heartbroken daughter Ashley Jackson posted an image of her late mother with family members on Wednesday.
'Mom this can't be true I just talk to you the other night I don't know how I'm suppose to tell your babies,' Jackson wrote.
'This broke my heart mom I love you so much.'
Other loved ones and close friends can't wrap their head around the senseless tragedy.
'She was a part of the community, always there when you needed her, a confidante, a good cook,' neighbor Sara Lee told The Post.
'She was just an awesome woman, and for her to die at 61 years old to gun violence is horrible.'
Marella Acevedeo Cruz, another local, said she just saw Mette the other day when she graciously dropped off toys for her kids.
'It's just her being her, just so sweet, asking my kids which ones they liked,' Cruz added.
'It's not fair for us and our kids to see this tragedy. What if my kids go into the store looking for her? What am I going to tell them?'
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