February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Stephen McKinley
Eugene McMahon, an Irish-American employee of the New York City, was shot in the head on Aug. 10, at 5:10 a.m. in Long Island City, Queens, and later died from his injuries, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Environmental Protection, where McMahon worked.
McMahon, a resident of Levittown, L.I., was found slumped over the wheel of his city car, which had crashed into a warehouse wall, in what police have said appears to be a robbery, because his wallet and cell phone were missing.
Last week Police Commissioner Ray Kelly offered a $12,000 reward for information leading police to the murderer.
Lt. Richard Bellucci, head of the Queens Homicide Unit, told reporters that it appeared that McMahon may have been taking a nap when a robber awakened him. He may have hit the accelerator pedal to escape, and was shot in the left side of the head before crashing into the warehouse wall.
McMahon’s family defended him last week, saying that he loved his job and would not have been sleeping on duty. He had been working a midnight-to-8 a.m. shift.
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“It was not like him to take a nap,” one of his two daughters, Heather McMahon, 19, told reporters. “He loved his job very, very much. He was an absolutely amazing man, and this should never have happened to him.”
She described her father as “a very, very good person; the most patient, loving man you’d ever meet. He was never one to yell, but he would let you know when you were wrong,” she said. “You learned so much from him.”
No arrests have been made in the case, and a New York City police source told the Echo that there are as yet no leads in the murder of McMahon, who was 46.
A funeral service was held Friday, Aug. 16, at St. Bernard Church in Levittown. Burial was at the Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury.
Police asked anyone with information to call 1-800-577-TIPS.