On the night of September 16, 1991, a planned, brazen shooting at the J.I. Counters Inc. Cocktail lounge in Queens left four people dead, including 29-year-old Carlos El Burro Arias. Arias was with three others when gunmen opened fire; the other fatalities were Carmen Blanco, 33, Juan J. Marin, 26, and Luz Analith Sepulveda, 29. Several more patrons were wounded in the attack.

The NYPD investigated the quadruple homicide but encountered strong community silence that hampered the inquiry. Several suspects were briefly detained after the shooting but were released for lack of evidence. Investigators later explored a possible connection to Dandeny Muñoz Mosquera, known as La Quica, who was arrested in Queens nine days after the massacre on unrelated passport charges; he was never charged in the lounge killings.

The J.I. Counters Inc. Lounge massacre remains unsolved.