Teen charged in stabbing that killed 14-year-old boy on NYC subway platform
A 14-year-old boy was fatally stabbed on a New York City subway platform Saturday afternoon, and a 15-year-old has been charged with murder, police said.
Police believe an altercation began above ground near the 137 Street-City College station in Hamilton Heights before it moved into the subway station, where the victim was reported to have been stabbed in the abdomen on the northbound platform of the No. 1 line around 3 p.m. Police later recovered a knife and a broomstick at the scene, officials said.
The victim was identified as Ethan Reyes of Yonkers, New York, police said Sunday.
A witness to the stabbing told NBC New York the victim's “lips were purple and his eyes were rolled back, and he was bleeding a lot of blood,” adding that he saw a group of teenage girls run out of the station. “They wanted to take his phone.”
The teenager was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital, police said, adding that they are waiting to identify him until after his family has been notified.
Police initially identified a "person of interest" later Saturday in the area of West 173rd Street and Broadway based on security video from the subway station. The person, who had injuries to his back, his abdomen and his left hip, was transported to NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center and was stable, police said.
Officials later announced a 15-year-old boy was arrested Sunday at 11:15 a.m. on charges of murder and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the fatal stabbing. NBC News does not usually name minors charged with a crime, even those charged as adults.
At a news conference Saturday night, New York Police Department Transit Chief Jason Wilcox said police believe the two people involved in the incident knew each other and that no other suspects were being sought.
Mayor Eric Adams said the stabbing "really highlights why we need the lights on in schools like this,” according to NBC New York, adding: “We need to find out what happened. We’re going to find out the person responsible.”
The stabbing is the latest in a string of violent incidents on the subway system, including the unprovoked fatal shooting of Daniel Enriquez, 48, on a Manhattan-bound Q train in May; the shooting in which 10 people suffered gunshot wounds and 13 others were injured on a Manhattan-bound N train in April; and the killing of Michelle Go, 40, whom Simon Martial, 61, pushed onto the tracks at the Times Square station in January, causing her to be fatally struck by a Brooklyn-bound R train.
Officers closed the Hamilton Heights station Saturday to conduct their investigation, NBC New York reported. Service to the station had resumed by 10:30 p.m.
Richard Davey, the president of New York City Transit, called the incident "senseless and tragic" in a statement and said Metropolitan Transit Authority officials are cooperating with the police investigation.
