The masked “coward” who shot a 36-year-old Brooklyn mom dead was set off by a pointless argument, the victim’s grieving family said Thursday — while daring him to surrender.
Tamika Powell was blasted in the head after exchanging words with her killer at a barbecue Wednesday night near the Barclays Center, according to sources and Powell’s heartbroken mother.
“She showed up at the barbecue. At about 10 or 15 minutes at the barbecue, she had an argument with somebody,” Powell’s mom, Norma Campbell, 65, told The Post.
“After the argument, Tamika left and the guy went into his apartment…came back out with a mask. He put on the mask and left in the direction Tamika left.
“There was a moment of quiet…and that’s when they heard the one shot,” she said.
“People ran to the other direction of the sound to see what was going on and saw Tamika in the middle of the street.”
Police said the gunman then fled.
Campbell received a phone call from her youngest daughter and rushed to the scene at Carlton Avenue and Pacific Avenue.
The panic-stricken mom was met with Powell’s lifeless body covered in a white sheet.
Powell recently moved back into her mother’s Prospect Heights home and worked at a FedEx warehouse in Connecticut, her family said.
She is survived by two daughters — a 12-year-old and 13-year-old.
Campbell remembered her daughter as a free spirit who was beloved by neighbors in Prospect Heights, a usually safe area where she was raised.
“When the call came, I couldn’t believe it because she grew up in this neighborhood and is loved over here. Everyone knows her.”
She said her killer should rot in prison and “die a slow and painful death” once he’s nabbed.
“You are a coward,” Campbell said through tears when asked if she has a message for her daughter’s murderer.
“If you are bold enough to take a life then come forward.”
Additional reporting by Joe Marino
