Two nabbed in murder of Bronx man shot protecting friend during robbery

Two people have been arrested in connection with the murder of a Bronx man who was shot and killed while trying to protect his friend during an armed robbery last month, police said Thursday.

June Cuadrado, 21, and Adam Soto, 20, were both nabbed and charged with murder and robbery in the Dec. 15 slaying of 26-year-old Tyreek Moore, cops said.

Merkel Washington, 24, was on his way to meet up with Moore at a bus stop on Seward Ave. near Puglsey Ave. in Castle Hill around 5:55 p.m. when he was approached by Cuadrado, Soto, a third man and a woman, police said.

Soto put a gun to the back of Washington’s head and demanded, “Give me everything you’ve got,” according to a criminal complaint, and the man turned over his cell phone and wallet.

Moore — about a half block away — spotted his friend in danger and rushed to intervene, police said. Soto turned the gun on Moore and asked him, “Do you want to die tonight?” according to prosecutors.

When Washington refused to give the robbers the password to his phone, he was pistol-whipped. The two men turned to walk away when Washington heard the click of the gun, indicating a jam.

“This s— doesn’t work,” Soto muttered before firing another shot, this time striking Moore in the back with a bullet, prosecutors said.

As Moore fell to the pavement suffering from a fatal gunshot wound, the gunman and his sidekicks took off, with Washington’s phone and wallet in tow, cops said. Medics rushed both victims to Jacobi Medical Center, where Moore died.

“He was a good person,” Washington told The News last month. “He was a genuine person. Ty wasn’t a person who showed people fake love. It just feels unreal.”

Following arraignments at Bronx Criminal Court, both Soto and Cuadrado were held without bail, records show. They are being held at the same jail on Rikers Island as they await their next court appearances.

Police are still searching for the two other people involved in the senseless killing.