The man who allegedly shot and killed drug lord Alberto “Alpo” Martinez has been charged in connection with the murder.
As first reported by the New York Daily News, police revealed Sunday evening that 27-year-old Shakeem Parker had been arrested and charged in connection with the fatal Oct. 31 shooting in Harlem. Parker, per authorities, was already in custody on Rikers Island due to a prior case.
Detectives working Martinez’s death investigation are alleged to have “gathered information” pinpointing Parker as the person responsible for the fatal shooting. Parker has now been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
Publicly available inmate records list a Shakeem Parker as currently being housed at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers. Charges listed include second-degree murder, as well as multiple counts of criminal possession of a weapon. The original arrest date is listed as Nov. 6, with the next court date currently set for next Monday.
Cam’ron portrayed a fictionalized version of “Alpo” Martinez in Paid in Full, a 2002 drama from Roc-A-Fella Films. On Oct. 31 of last year, Martinez, 55, was shot multiple times while in the driver seat of a Dodge Ram. Initially, no arrests were made.
In 2015, Martinez was released from prison after serving time in connection with 14 murder counts and striking a deal in which he was reported to have informed on others. Martinez then spent years in the federal witness protection program, ultimately taking up residence in in Maine.
Shortly after Martinez’s death, actor Mekhi Phifer—who played a fictionalized version of Rich Porter in the aforementioned Paid in Full—reflected on the experience of bringing these stories to the screen. “I grew up knowing the legend of these Kats and had to represent the humanity in the choices they made,” Phifer said at the time. “Hopefully lessons were learned and not glorified in any way.”
