Ex-con shot to death outside Queens deli during argument with killer

A 25-year-old ex-con was shot to death outside a Queens deli during an argument with his killer, police said Tuesday.

Joseph Valdez got into an quarrel with a man who pulled out a gun and opened fire outside the store on 21st St. near 41st Ave. in Astoria about 10 p.m. Monday, cops said. Valdez suffered three gunshot wounds to the arm and upper body.

Medics rushed Valdez to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell but he could not be saved.

The gunman ran off and is being sought.

Valdez, who lived in Upper Manhattan, was convicted of attempted murder in Manhattan in 2015 and sentenced to up to five years in state prison, records show.

After his release, he was arrested in August 2020 when officers in the Bronx stopped him for jaywalking and found a gun on him, according to police. He was sent back to prison and paroled a year later.