A 69-year-old gay man was stabbed to death on a Queens street on
Monday afternoon.
According to the New
York Daily News, Steven Torres, 22, has been charged with the
murder of Ever Orozco as a hate crime.
The paper reported that the incident occurred at 90th
St. and Roosevelt Ave. after Orozco, who is married, parked his car
after dropping his wife off at a doctor's office. Police said that
Torres attacked Orozco then fled. A group of bystanders held Torres
until police arrived. Police have also recovered the knife used to
kill Orozco.
“He [Torres] said the victim was blowing kisses to him. That's
what set him off,” an unidentified source is quoted as saying.
“This is what he is claiming.”
NBC
New York, however, reported that the men scuffled over a cell
phone. One eyewitness told the outlet that he counted 7 cuts.
“There was a lot of screaming, and all I could see was the guy
stabbing him – stabbing him and stabbing him,” eyewitness Eddie
De Jesus said. “Getting killed over a phone, it's not right.”