Police investigate Uniondale man's death

Nassau County police are investigating the death of a Uniondale man who was shot in front of his Ditmas Avenue home on Saturday.

Officers responding to a ShotSpotter alert found the body in the street around 5 p.m., police said Sunday. They didn't release the name of the victim, but family members identified him as Ainsworth Evans, 26, a college student who they said aspired to become a homicide detective.

Authorities said they have no suspects or motive.

"My son has been taken from me. He never complained; he's so ambitious," said Evans' mother, Veronica Williams.

"We can't overcome this," she said, as she and other family members sat in the backyard of the family's home where her son was slain.

Nicknamed "Sunny," Evans was a criminal justice major at Nassau Community College and dreamed of being a homicide detective -- striving to stop the type of violence that claimed his life, family members said.

"He's a smart, intelligent people person who wants to be a cop," said his sister, Melesia Labeach.

Relatives said Evans also worked as a real estate agent. Family members said Evans often attended church and was recently baptized.

"He would call me just to quote Scriptures," said Labeach, 28, who also lives at the Ditmas Avenue address.

She remembered talking to her brother by cellphone just hours before his death as she browsed through Roosevelt Field.

The conversation was brief: He wanted to tell her that a potential tenant wasn't moving into a room the family wanted to rent, she said. After the chat, she drove to a supermarket to buy shrimp.

As she neared the home, Labeach and her 8-year-old daughter, Makayla Singh, saw the flashing lights of several squad cars.

"He was lying next to his car," Labeach said as she fought back tears. "I saw the red shirt and blue pants he had worn earlier in the day. He's my life. He's a part of me."

Funeral arrangements are pending, the mother said.

"We were very close to each other. He never hid anything from me," Williams said. "I had three children; I'm left with two."

Detectives ask that anyone with information contact Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.

With Jennifer Barrios