CHELSEA, Manhattan (WABC) — A 34-year-old suspect has been charged with murder in connection with Friday morning’s fatal stabbing in Chelsea.
Nisean Graves, described by area residents as homeless, was taken into custody at gunpoint by both NYPD officers and MTA police following the incident.
It happened around 8 a.m. Friday at West 30th Street and 7th Avenue.
Witnesses say the incident started as a fistfight between two men in the middle of the intersection.
At one point, police say, Graves pulled out a knife and stabbed the other man.
The police, who were already nearby investigating an incident on Avenue 7 between the 29th and 30th, quickly arrived on the scene.
The officers intervened in the altercation and found a 36-year-old man stabbed in the torso.
“When I went to the corner, the boy was already on the ground bleeding,” said eyewitness Ángel Aviles. “And the police were trying to revive him.”
The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital in critical condition. He died a short time later.
His name was withheld pending family notification.
Police immediately arrested Graves, and he was later charged.
Witnesses described Graves as a homeless person who is well-known in the neighborhood.
They told Eyewitness News that he had never shown signs of violence until now.
However, Graves is listed as a Tier 3 sex offender and served nine years in prison for the attempted rape of a 16-year-old girl in Mount Vernon.
The 36-year-old man who died was from Brooklyn, Maryland.
He was wanted in Maryland for questioning in connection with a violent murder.
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