Schenectady police continue probe of shooting death

PHOTOGRAPHER: Steve Cook/Daily Gazette

A memorial for 22-year-old Marquel Fallen on Germania Avenue, as it appeared Monday morning, Feb. 1, 2016. An unidentified suspect shot and killed Fallen on Germania Avenue in Schenectady on Saturday afternoon as he sat in the driver's seat of a parked...

City police Monday continued to investigate the weekend killing of a Schenectady man on Germania Avenue as friends and family mourned his loss.

Police offered no new information in the case, but a longtime friend Monday recalled Marquel E. Fallen as a bright kid who loved to play basketball.

“If I were to describe Marquel in one word, it would be special,” friend Anthony Richardson told The Daily Gazette via Twitter Monday. “He was very intelligent and caring. He always made others smile and people cherished being around him.”

Fallen, 22, of Schenectady, died late Saturday afternoon after being shot multiple times on Germania, off Albany Street in the Hamilton Hill area, police said.

The assailant or assailants shot Fallen as he sat in the driver’s seat of a vehicle parked outside 315 Germania Ave. No arrests have been made.

A sidewalk memorial soon sprung up near the scene of the shooting. Monday morning, it consisted of more than 60 votive candles spelling out Fallen’s informal name, “Quel,” along with a small poster tied to a fence with his name, pictures and messages that included his birth and death dates. Ten balloons swayed breeze, also fixed to the fence.

By early afternoon, the poster and balloons were gone and many of the candles lay damaged. A scaled back memorial with about a third of the candles remained by 3 p.m.

Richardson said he knew Fallen for several years in Schenectady. Fallen lived in the city for at least eight years, Richardson said.

Richardson and Fallen played on the same basketball team in seventh grade. Richardson spoke from Nebraska, where he now attends college and plays for the school’s basketball team. Richardson said he heard about Fallen’s death via social media Saturday evening after a game.

“I haven’t cried in a long time,” Richardson Tweeted Saturday evening after finding out. “RIP QUEL!”

Richardson said Fallen spent one year of high school in Rensselaer before returning to Schenectady.

“He was the perfect person to be around if you ever felt down,” Richardson wrote to The Daily Gazette. “Marquel would always be there to try to brighten that person’s day up!”

Fallen’s death marks the first homicide in Schenectady of 2016.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Schenectady Police Department at 788-6566.