A longtime Bellevue Hospital employee, after surviving a March battle with COVID-19, drew his last breath on the wrong end of a gun.
The family of murder victim Rodney Maxwell said the devoted father of three with a deft comedic touch was simply caught in the middle when a gunman opened fire inside an illegal Brooklyn gambling den Wednesday night.
“He’s not the kind to get in trouble,” said his younger sister Regina Jenkins as the family mourned their crushing loss Friday. “Not the kind to get mixed up in craziness. There really are no words.”
The gunman stormed into the Brownsville backroom poker club around 10:40 p.m. and tried to rob the players before fatally shooting the 58-year-old Queens man in the chest, a high-ranking police source said.
Three other gunshot victims escaped with their lives from the botched hold-up.
The slain man worked at the Manhattan hospital for 23 years, and was moonlighting as a security guard and bouncer at the club known as the “G spot,” the source added.
The suspect remained on the loose Friday.
When Maxwell was hospitalized for a week in March after contracting coronavirus, his family visited him constantly, knowing he would do the same for them.
“He had massive, massive love,” said Jenkins. “Once he got better, my mother got sick and he made it his business to take care of her.”
Maxwell was a joke-telling raconteur who loved to give everyone a nickname — dubbing his 23-year-old daughter Revin the “Superstar.”
His easy-going approach to life was summed up in his oft-repeated maxim “easy does it,” and he seemed to make friends wherever he went.
“He had 1,000 friends,” recalled Jenkins. “Everybody that knew him, loved him. No one could say a bad word about him. Genuine, you can put that in capitals. GENUINE.”
According to his cousin Katonya Gillyard, Maxwell left his wallet inside his car when he showed up at the Hegeman Ave. betting parlor near Osborn St., so it took police a while to identify him. Other relatives heard Maxwell was standing outside near the door, and a random bullet took him out.
Maxwell died at Brookdale Hospital a short time after the shooting.
“We are looking for justice,” said Jenkins. “I am looking and expecting we can at least find out who. Unfortunately, it was wrong place, wrong time.”
The family gathered last Sunday for a reunion where they swapped stories and shared dinner, with Maxwell laughing through it all and leaving the clan with fond memories.
“Loving, loving, loving — he was a great son and I love him dearly,” said his mother, 76-year-old Gloria Maxwell. “A great son. The life of the party. A very, very funny guy. And I’m going to miss him dearly.”
