Suspect faces murder charge in Valley Stream man's death

A Bronx man who was arrested over the weekend and charged with committing a string of robberies in the past week has also been charged with murder in the shooting death of a Valley Stream man who was working at a Flushing gas station, the Queens Country district attorney's office said Monday.

Police charged Christopher Roberts, 21, of 3339 Third Ave., in the shooting after he told police that he and Maurice Echols, 21, of Jamaica, went to the Mobil gas station at College Point Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue to rob it, according to the criminal complaint. Roberts told police that during the robbery Echols pulled a gun and shot Nadeem Khan, 39, several times, the complaint said.

Roberts said that after the shooting he and Echols took cigarettes and cigars from behind the register before fleeing. Authorities said they are investigating whether Echols was an accomplice in the shooting.

A spokesman for the district attorney said that Roberts was charged for "acting in concert" in the gas station robbery and shooting.

In a surveillance video released by police last week, two men can be seen confronting Khan. One of the men appears to shoot Khan several times and the other suspect appears to re-enter Khan's office area.

Roberts, who authorities said has a prior arrest record, was arraigned in Queens Country Court Sunday night and held without bail. He is charged with second-degree murder, first-degree robbery and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

"This type of violence will not be tolerated," Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said in statement. "This case will be vigorously prosecuted in an effort to provide a measure of justice for the victim and his family."

Khan's family could not be immediately reached for comment last night.

Roberts and Echols were arrested Saturday morning after trying to rob a nearby Chinese restaurant they had targeted three times in less than a week, according to authorities. They were charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree robbery, second-degree menacing, petty larceny and attempted petty larceny in connection with the Chinese restaurant robberies. Echols was held on $400,000 bail.