A Harlem fishmonger who was allegedly attacked by two brothers praised a coworker to The Post on Friday for springing into action to save him — after the pal knifed his assailants, killing one of them.
Francisco Morales, 38, an immigrant from Mexico, hailed colleague Junior Hernandez, who was initially charged with murder for Tuesday’s fatal melee over shrimp at the Fish Express Fish Market in Manhattan.
“I thank him,” said Morales — who needed staples to close the gash on his head and stitches in his lip — of Hernandez. “I have to, you know, for coming to help me.
“Junior is a person you call a good friend,” he said, describing Hernandez as a dishwasher while he is “the fish man.”
Malik Burrell, 25, was killed, and his brother, 29-year-old.
Robert “Bobby” Burrell, gravely wounded as they allegedly tried to swipe the seafood, triggering the deadly violence.
The charges against Hernandez were downgraded to first-degree assault — in a case eerily similar to that of bodega worker Jose Alba, who fatally stabbed an ex-con attacking him in Hamilton Heights in July.
Morales said the brothers set upon him after workers had earlier booted one of them from the store on St. Nicholas Place near Edgecombe Avenue for trying to steal seafood Tuesday night.
“I don’t know why they came to hit me. I didn’t see anything. The doctor told me they had something in their hands to break my face because they can’t break my face with their hands,” said the married Morales, adding that his wife is sick so he is carrying their financial load at the moment.
“Everything happened so fast. I only felt the pain after. I knew my head was opened, but I didn’t know how bad. I didn’t know how bad my lips were. After they put the staples in my head and the stitches in my lips, I went to the restroom. That’s when I saw how it was,” he said.
As the pair allegedly beat Morales, coworker Hernandez ran up from the back of the shop and knifed both of them, killing Malik.
قال موراليس إن الشرطة قيّدت موراليس في البداية عندما وصلوا إلى مكان الحادث لاعتقادهم خطأ أنه طعن الأخوين. قال يوم الجمعة: "أشعر بالسوء حيال القضية لأن هذا الرجل لديه عائلة أيضًا".
"أشعر بالرضا مع عائلتي ، لكني ما زلت أشعر بالإحباط لأن أحدهم توفي. أنا لست فخوراً بما فعلته 100٪. أفكر في ذلك طوال الوقت ، "قال.
قال موراليس إنه عندما سمع عن توجيه تهم القتل في البداية إلى هيرنانديز ، "شعرت بالسوء ، كما تعلم.
"كان جونيور يدافع عن نفسه."
قال موراليس إن بوبي بوريل ، الموجود في المستشفى متأثرا بجروحه من طعنات ، يجب أن "يذهب إلى السجن.
قال: "لقد جاء ليقاتل".
وأضافت الضحية: "لم يضربني أحد من قبل.
"عندما يغضبون ، أبتعد عنهم لأنني أعرف ما يمكن أن يحدث."
قارن فرانسيسكو مارتي ، رئيس اتحاد بوديجا والأعمال الصغيرة بالمدينة ، القضية بألبا.
"يتعرض الكثير من عمال البناء وعمال الأعمال الصغيرة للهجوم لأنه لا توجد عواقب على المجرمين!