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Arrest made in hit-and-run death of jeweler
Police are charging a 46-year-old MTA train operator with murder and manslaughter in the death of Aron “Eric” Aranbayev, a jeweler in New York’s Diamond District.
Shortly after the death of Aron Aranbayev, his company, Rafaello&Co., and a number of his celebrity clients remembered him on Instagram. This picture from the Rafaello&Co. account calls the late jeweler an “angel” who is “in great hands now
New York--Police have made an arrest in the hit-and-run death of 40-year-old Aron “Eric” Aranbayev, a Diamond District jeweler known for selling high-end pieces to singers, athletes and other celebrities.
The Queens District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday that 46-year-old Charles Jordan of Valley Stream, Long Island faces charges of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and leaving the scene of an incident without reporting a death in the murder of Aranbayev.
The accused allegedly ran over the jeweler with his Dodge Magnum after the two got into a verbal argument on the night of July 19 in the Forest Hills section of Queens.
Aranbayev, a father of four young children, was outside his home when he was struck. He was taken to the hospital, where he died on July 20.
“The victim didn’t have a chance,” Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said in the statement released Thursday. “He was allegedly brutally rammed by a 1,000-plus pound high-speed vehicle that violently threw him to the ground … This was a senseless, violent death that could have easily been prevented.”
Aranbayev opened Rafaello & Co., a jewelry store located in Manhattan’s Diamond District, in 2009 with his father Rafael Aranbayev and cousin Gabriel Jacobs.
The company has sold jewelry to and dressed many high-profile clients over the years, including Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks, musicians Drake, Chris Brown, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, and the Saudi royal family, according to the timeline on its website. Following Aranbayev’s death, a number of celebrities used social media to express their sorrow over the loss of the jeweler.
On Thursday, Rafaello & Co. posted a screen shot of a news story on Jordan’s arrest on its Instagram account and thanked the community for its support and the NYPD for its hard work, though the post noted that the arrest would not “bring my brother back.”
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