Sep. 9, 2020 By Michael Dorgan
A GoFundMe was launched Saturday by the father of a man gunned down in Long Island City last week.
Latchman Sewsankar, the father of the victim Vickram Sewsankar, is raising funds to cover the funeral costs of his son who was fatally shot on Borden Avenue, near 2nd Street, on Thursday following a dispute over a parking space.
Sewsankar has raised nearly $11,000 from more than 90 donors– as he looks to raise $21,000. Donors include family members, friends to local residents.
“It’s a tragedy to a life gone too soon at the age of 25,” Latchman Sewsankar wrote on the GoFundMe page. “Vickram was a loving caring and considerate son, brother and friend to all the lives he touched,” he added.
Vickram Sewsankar, a resident of South Ozone Park in Queens, was shot in the stomach at around 6:50 p.m. on Sept. 3 and later died at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell, according to police. As of Tuesday, no arrests had been made.
A memorial has gone up near where Sewsankar was murdered.
The memorial contains candles, flowers, balloons and pictures of Sewsankar– along with messages from friends and relatives. There are two balloons–one with the number “2″ and the other with the number “6”– on top of the memorial, in recognition of Vickram’s 26th birthday that was yesterday.
Messages like “never forget you brother,” “happy birthday,” and “sleep in peace my baby boy” are on sheets of paper taped to a box at the location.
Another message reads: “Vickram, I love you so much, words cannot explain you are my heart, my soul, my life, I will always count the days until we meet again.”
Lidia Raskin, a resident who was passing by the memorial with two children Tuesday, said that Sewsankar’s death was tragic.
“I have lived in the neighborhood for 12 years and nothing like this has ever happened,” Raskin said.
“Its a very, very sad story,” she said.
A memorial paying tribute to Vickram Sewsankar has gone up at Borden Avenue & 2nd Street.
Sewsankar was fatally shot at the location Thursday following a dispute over a parking space.
He would have turned 26 Monday.@queenspost @LICPOST #Queens #LIC #LongIslandCity pic.twitter.com/xv56nCbBzE
— Michael Dorgan (@MDorganNYC) September 8, 2020