By Marlyn Montilla
04 Aug 2024, 16:37 PM EDT
The New York Police Department (NYPD) has released an image of the subject considered the main suspect in the stabbing that left 34-year-old Christian Torres dead in the Bronx last week.
The individual pictured is being sought for the attack that left Torres with a chest wound and took place at the victim’s apartment building on University Ave. near W. 188th St. around 1:35 p.m. Wednesday.
“He’s the main guy,” an NYPD spokesman said Saturday.
The image was taken from security camera video filmed after the attack, showing the suspect pulling a gray hooded sweatshirt from his jeans and passing it to his accomplice in an attempt to disguise himself, officials said.
The victim’s father, who believes the stabbing was in retaliation for his son beating a neighbor who called him a child molester earlier this week.
Torres was the sole caregiver for his mother, who suffers from brain tumors and is divorced from his father, said his friend Tony Alvarez.
“I watched my friend die,” Alvarez said. “He’s a hard worker who took care of his mother. He’s all she has.”
Torres left behind his fiancée, Tasha Melvin, who said she would honor his memory by caring for his ailing mother, the Daily News reported.
“She took care of her mother, and now she has no one,” Melvin said. “I’m going to do what I can to help. It’s a mess.”
The violence began as a fight between the victim and another subject in the courtyard of the building, and turned fatal when Torres’ rival called for reinforcements and the fatal blow was delivered, Alvarez explained.
“The guy came back with 10 men,” Alvarez said. “I said, ‘Chris, get up there, they’re coming for you.’ He said, ‘No, I have to get my mom upstairs.’”
Torres’ father rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital after hearing of the stabbing, but said it was too late to say goodbye to his son, who worked in construction.
“He was already gone,” said Miguel Torres, 57.
Miguel Torres recounted the beating his son gave to a man who lived across the street.
“He had called me and told me there was someone across the street calling him a child molester,” the father said. “He said, ‘Dad, I’m sorry… The guy was doing it again and I kicked his ass.’”
Anyone with information that could lead police to arrest the suspect is asked to call the New York Police Department’s Crime Stoppers hotline at (800) 577-8477.
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