Friend of slain East Harlem Burger King cashier recounts bringing flowers, walking her home to ease stress of late-night hours

An admirer of a young cashier fatally shot in an East Harlem Burger King brought her flowers and walked her home from work every day to ease her stress over the dangerous late night hours, the grief-stricken man told reporters.

“When she walks out, she’s like ‘Damn, at least I’m still loved,’” said Giovanni Mideres, 29. “I would walk her home every time, we would play hide-and-seek while we’re walking. Dancing, we would do skip-to-my-loo, sing ‘Wizard of Oz.’ It wasn’t the yellow brick road, it was the concrete road.”

Kristal Bayron-Nieves was shot and killed while working a night shift at the Burger King in Manhattan.
Kristal Bayron-Nieves was shot and killed while working a night shift at the Burger King in Manhattan.

Kristal Bayron-Nieves, 19, was killed in a robbery last Sunday while she was working a late shift at the fast food outlet on Lexington Ave. and E. 116th St.

“I was there before it happened,” Mideres said. “I gave her flowers first, and I went to give her manager flowers, and he came in.”

Winston Glynn, 30, allegedly walked into the Burger King and demanded money, pistol-whipping the manager and attacking a customer before he snatched $100 out of a cash drawer.

Giovanni Mideres
Giovanni Mideres (Instagram)

Glynn instructed Bayron-Nieves, who was behind the register, to open another drawer but she didn’t have the key. As she bent down to fumble with the locked drawer, Glynn shot her in the chest, cops said.

“I was coming from outside back into the store. He had already assaulted the manager. I didn’t notice anything until I saw the manager on the floor,” Mideres said.

Winston Glynn, 30, is led out of the 25th Precinct in Manhattan after being charged in the slaying of Kristal Bayron-Nieves, 19.
Winston Glynn, 30, is led out of the 25th Precinct in Manhattan after being charged in the slaying of Kristal Bayron-Nieves, 19.

Then Mideres said he saw Bayron-Nieves sprawled on the floor of the fast food joint with a gunshot wound.

“I was trying to see if she was still alive. I knew she wasn’t going to make it though; he shot her right in her torso. I stayed inside the whole time,” he told The News.

Bayron-Nieves was rushed to Metropolitan Hospital, but she could not be saved.

The teen was killed days before she was set to begin earlier working hours; she had told her family she feared for her life during the night shift.

The Burger King at 154 E. 116th Street in Manhattan.
The Burger King at 154 E. 116th Street in Manhattan. 

“A–holes, crackheads, k2 heads. She goes through a lot of s— arguing with these a–holes,” Mideres said.

Mideres hopes he can make it to the young woman’s funeral in Puerto Rico, but lacks the funds to make the trip. On Saturday, Mayor Adams announced Jet Blue Airlines will be providing the teen’s relatives with free flights to attend the service.

“If she’s not going to sleep, I’m not going to sleep or rest … if she’s buried and I’m not there to see her I’m going to lose my mind. I haven’t slept for five days now,” Mideres said.

Glynn was arrested and charged for the murder Friday and Mideres hopes for a swift and unforgiving judicial outcome.

“Oh, you got $100? Now you get 100-to-life. You want to take a girl’s life for $100? Now we’re taking your life,” he said.

Glynn is being held at Rikers Island pending his next court appearance.

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