Jonathan Pena, a 32-year-old Hispanic man from the Bronx, was a married father of two daughters, ages eight and fourteen, who worked for a moving company. His family remembered him as the "life of the party" and a wonderful, generous man who had just celebrated his birthday. "If you needed help, he was going to help you," his sister-in-law recalled. "His last dollar bill, here you go."
On the afternoon of Saturday, November 13, 2021, Pena was with a 46-year-old friend, Sergio Ortiz, outside the Maribella Paradise Restaurant on Macombs Road in the Mount Eden section of the Bronx. Just before 5 p.m., three men approached them, drew firearms, and forcibly stole a gold chain from Pena’s neck.
As Pena and Ortiz tried to flee their attackers, the men opened fire. Pena was struck in the torso, and Ortiz was shot in the back. Pena was rushed in a private vehicle to Bronx Lebanon Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Emergency responders transported Ortiz to Lincoln Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition. The three assailants fled the scene, heading north on Macombs Road in a black Mercedes-Benz sedan.
In the weeks that followed, the New York Police Department released surveillance photos and video of the suspects and their vehicle, asking the public for assistance. The investigation led to an arrest on January 9, 2022, when police took 21-year-old Kadeem Edwards, a Bronx resident, into custody. He was charged with murder and attempted murder for his role in the fatal robbery.
Prosecutors identified Edwards as the getaway driver for his two accomplices, who have not been caught. The surviving victim, Sergio Ortiz, provided critical testimony during the trial. In August 2025, a jury convicted Edwards, then 24, of second-degree murder and first-degree robbery. A Bronx Supreme Court Justice sentenced him to serve 23 years to life in prison.
