A violent ex-con who had been wanted by the FBI for two cowardly Big Apple murders had a bizarre message for New Yorkers after getting nabbed by the NYPD on Saturday.
“God is good, God is great,” Jesus Acosta said as he was hauled off to Bronx Criminal Court in handcuffs for the two deadly robberies.
Jesus Acosta, 31, blows a kiss as he’s arraigned in Bronx Criminal Court on Aug. 30, 2026. William Miller
Hardworking married dad of two MD Yousuf, 44, was fatally shot in Brooklyn last week, police said. Gofundme
The parolee, 31, had been the subject of a manhunt by the feds and NYPD for fatally shooting a married dad of two and wings-restaurant worker in Brooklyn on Aug. 23, then pumping a deadly bullet into a customer at a Bronx deli, cops said.
There is no indication that the slayings involved anything but robberies.
He was caught by New York’s Finest at a Bronx park over the weekend, police said.
Acosta was still on parole after being released from state prison April 23 following 10 years behind bars on assault and felony gun possession charges, according to online records.
His killing spree began when he shot MD Yousuf, a beloved 44-year-old, hard-working employee at America’s Best Wings and Pizza on Rockaway Avenue in Brownsville during a Sunday night armed robbery, police said.
Yousuf was hit in the head and later died at Brookdale Hospital Medical Center, while a second man who was shot in the leg during the robbery was treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to cops.
Within 48 hours, Acosta pulled off another armed robbery at a bodega on 149th Street, where he shot and killed 33-year-old Tayvon Shuler, cops said.
Detectives haul accused double-killer Jesus Acosta, 31, from the 43rd Precinct stationhouse on Saturday. William Miller for NY Post
A vigil and memorial is set up for a 33-year-old bodega customer who also was allegedly fatally shot by the suspect. Kyle Mazza/Shutterstock
In that incident, police said Acosta was trying to rob the store in the Concourse neighborhood around 12:15 a.m. Tuesday when he allegedly shot Shuler in the chest.
Chilling surveillance video obtained by WABC News captured the hooded gunman brazenly opening fire from the counter.
Acosta then allegedly snatched money from the cash register and stole a “personal item” belonging to Shuler while he was still alive but dying of a gunshot wound, according to his criminal complaint.
Shuler was pronounced dead at Lincoln Hospital.
The FBI posted a $25,000 reward for the accused career criminal, while United Bodegas of America, a Big Apple-based advocacy group for small food retailers, put up another $10,000, and Acosta was nabbed in the park Saturday.
He was led out of the 43rd Precinct in The Bronx in cuffs hours later, ignoring questions from reporters outside the stationhouse before he blurted out his bizarre first public comments.
According to law-enforcement sources, Acosta’s stint in state prison came after he was convicted of a subway shooting.
Acosta was arrested in connection with two shootings, one in a restaurant and the other in a bodega, that left two people dead and another injured. William Miller
He got into an argument with a 20-year-old man aboard a No. 2 train shortly after 11 p.m. on May 5, 2015, then shot the victim in the left arm during a scuffle on a crowded platform.
Acosta appeared wide-eyed and grinning and even chillingly made a kissy face at a camera during his arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court late Sunday.
Judge Lavienska Polanco granted prosecutors’ request to hold Acosta behind bars without bail on a slew of charges, including first-degree murder, attempted murder, and robbery.
“He shot at two workers in the same store, removed money from the register and a package. At the time of the arrest, the defendant attempted to run from police and was carrying a loaded pistol, the same one used in the shootings. The defendant faces life with no possibility of parole,” Assistant District Attorney Fischer told the courtroom.
Acosta will return to court on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Yousuf’s family has raised more than $42,000 on gofundme.com to send his body back to his native Bangladesh.
Shuler’s older sister, Tanasha Neal, who said her sibling was nicknamed “Plucky,” posted another fundraiser to help the distraught family with funeral expenses.
“Everyone who knew him is currently experiencing an unimaginable loss after the sudden and tragic passing of Plucky,” Neal wrote.
“He was deeply loved by the people around him and losing him so unexpectedly has left everyone heartbroken and trying to process something we never imagined we would have to face.”
The site had raised $2,700 by Sunday evening.
Additional reporting by Zoe Hussain