An alleged Bloods gang member – already a suspect in the death of his girlfriend and a plot to kill his stepfather – was charged yesterday with killing a Queens man over a cigarette.
Devendra Singh, 26, allegedly gunned down Ryan Varma on Nov. 19 outside Mingles Bar on 101st Avenue. The wild shooting occurred hours after Varma, 27, innocently asked Singh for a cigarette, which police sources said made Singh feel “disrespected.”
“I would like to know why he did it, what’s the cause?” Varma’s father, Lloyd, told The Post. “I’m angry. Just for one cigarette, he killed my son. I can’t believe it.”
Singh was in a Jeep with friends riding away from the bar at about 4 a.m. when he pulled out a .25-caliber handgun and fired six to eight shots at Varma, striking him once in the back, prosecutors said.
The trigger-happy thug told cops he just wanted to scare Varma – not kill him – claiming he didn’t know he hit Varma until being questioned in the murder, sources said.
Singh was charged with second-degree murder and weapons possession, and faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted. He was in police custody last night awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal Court.
Singh, of 108th Street in Richmond Hill, spent two years in state prison for intimidating a witness to a crime, and family members said he did at least two other jail stints. Police described him as a member of the Bloods.
Singh’s long rap sheet also includes a guilty plea to a weapons-possession charge and arrests for criminal mischief and criminal sale of a firearm.
Police also believe he could be responsible for the May 22 death of live-in girlfriend Kristy Morales, 27, who was found strangled, law-enforcement sources said.
Eyewitnesses told cops that hours before Morales’ death, Singh beat her up at a club, sources said. When the couple returned home, he allegedly dragged her up the staircase by her shirt collar, causing her to lose consciousness.
Cops are also investigating whether Singh plotted – perhaps with his mother – to kill his stepfather, sources said. The stepfather, Lokhmauth Autar, and Singh’s mother, Mainwatty Singh, accused police of lying about the alleged plot.
Autar claimed Morales was not murdered, but died of an asthma attack. He said his stepson was heartbroken over her death.
Singh is a songwriter and singer in a rock band called Indian Blood. He has a 2-year-old son through his relationship with Morales.
The victim, Varma, was a graduate of the Technical Career Institute and worked as a computer technician on Wall Street until last month, family members said. He was planning to interview for a new job Tuesday.
Lloyd Varma called his son “a good kid” who had a passion of computers – along with a love for the ladies and going out drinking with his friends.
Like Singh, Varma is Guyanese and smoked Newport cigarettes.
erika.martinez@nypost.com
(p. 13 Metro)
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