The teenage suspect charged in the murder of a man just steps away from Times Square told police the killing was inspired by a social media trend, according to law enforcement sources.
The 17-year-old was arrested Thursday on murder and weapon possession charges in connection with the death Leonides Baez near 43rd Street and Broadway, police said. The 39-year-old Baez was found stabbed in the face, back and chest outside of Burger & Lobster Bryant Park late Monday night, on the same block as the the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.
Baez was taken to the hospital and later died from his injuries. Sources said he was seen arguing with someone shortly before the stabbing in midtown Manhattan.
Just over two days after the deadly incident, undercover officers had snagged a 17-year-old hopping subway turnstiles at the Stilwell Avenue station in Coney Island, according to sources. After checking his ID, police discovered he was wanted in connection with the killing.
After his arrest, the teen suspect admitted the killing had been inspired by a social media trend called “mess with crackheads” that promotes attacks on the homeless.
Police were still looking for two additional suspects, sources said. The arrested teen and the other two who remain at large had allegedly been taunting the victim prior to killing him.
Despite the supposed intention of the trend, the victim’s sister told NBC New York that Baez was not homeless. She said her brother “living his life, living being free and just kind of traveling the world,” and now she wants to make sure his killers are held responsible.
“I’m going to get justice. It’s going to happen,” said Catalina Baez, who came face-to-face with one of the people allegedly responsible for her brother’s death. “It’s really sad. Someone threw their whole entire life away. Seventeen years old, threw their whole life away.”
Baez said her brother had been sleeping at the location for nearly two hours before the young suspects came around him and started bothering him.
“They end up coming towards him, you know, throwing urine at him,” said Baez. “They end up, you know, fatally stabbing him.”
The grieving sister said she felt “disgusted” when she saw the suspect in court.
“Seeing someone younger than my son creating such an act out of a trend that’s on TikTok, it’s like no structure, no growing up,” she said.
The incidents are not limited to New York City. In Upstate New York’s Binghamton, five teens were charged with murder in beating death of a homeless man in a similarly inspired attack, according to police. In that case, the ages of the accused range from 13 to 15.
The NYPD’s investigation and search for the other two suspects remain ongoing.
