The police arrested a man early Saturday and accused him of fatally stabbing a 14-year-old boy on his way to school in a random attack on Friday, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
The man, Waldo Mejia, 29, was arrested near the location of the stabbing in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx and charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon, the police said. Mr. Mejia was found carrying a bloody knife at the time of his arrest, the authorities said.
The stabbing took place at 9:25 a.m. on Friday in front of 300 East 138th Street shortly after the 14-year-old boy, Caleb Rijos, had left his home nearby to attend the Bronx Leadership Academy High School, the police said. His building, at 175 Alexander Avenue, is part of a housing complex run by the New York City Housing Authority.
The police said that video of the episode showed Caleb being approached by a man who stabbed him twice in the chest, piercing his heart and lungs in what appeared to be an unprovoked attack. Passers-by flagged down emergency responders, who transported Caleb to Lincoln Hospital within six minutes of the stabbing, the police said. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
During a news conference on Saturday afternoon at Police Headquarters in Manhattan, Joseph Kenny, the chief of detectives, said the authorities had been able to identify Mr. Mejia after a transit officer recognized him as the suspect in another unprovoked stabbing that took place nearby in the Bronx on Sunday.
Officers waited for Mr. Mejia near his home at 270 Alexander Avenue in Mott Haven and took him into custody after he came back around midnight on Saturday.
“This was a young man that was on the right path in life and was tragically taken from his parents,” Mr. Kenny said.
At the news conference, Commissioner Tisch called Mr. Mejia “a career criminal” with a “documented history of mental health interaction with the N.Y.P.D.” He had already been arrested four times, she said, including in 2019, after he lit a home on fire, and in November, after he stabbed a ring camera with a kitchen knife.
Ms. Tisch described the killing as the tragic result of a criminal justice system that had failed to put victims first and adequately address recidivism and mental illness.
“Today a 14-year-old boy is dead, a family is devastated, a city is in mourning and the systems that we have in place to deal with repeat offenders and individuals with severe mental health issues continue to fail us,” the commissioner said, later adding, “My message to New Yorkers is something has to give.”
Addressing crimes committed by mentally ill New Yorkers has become a flashpoint after a series of recent high-profile episodes on the subway. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced last week that she would include legislation in her executive budget to allow hospitals to commit more people whose mental illness had put them or others at risk. “We can’t fully address this problem without changes to state law,” Ms. Hochul said in her statement.
Jacob Rijos, Caleb’s father, described him as a “wonderful boy” who was caring and loving.
“It’s hard right now,” he said on Friday. “We’re sad. We are trying to discuss the next steps. We don’t really know what happened.”
On Friday evening, a blood stain was visible on the sidewalk just outside an entrance for the Third Avenue-138th Street subway station. A single Ugg shoe appeared on the pavement next to an evidence marker.
Caleb is at least the third teenager in New York City to have been killed in the first 10 days of 2025.
On Jan. 3, two 17-year-olds were shot in the Bronx, according to a statement from the police. One was shot in the abdomen and taken to a hospital in stable condition; the other, Andrew Mora, was shot in the chest and died.
Less than an hour after that shooting, police officers responding to a call in East Harlem found two people with stab wounds and a third with a laceration on his forehead. One of the people stabbed, a 17-year-old boy, was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.
The killings came just days after at least 10 people, including some teenagers, were shot outside a concert hall in Queens on New Year’s Day. All of the victims were expected to recover.
Parents and children walking by the latest crime scene in Mott Haven on Friday were shocked and expressed concern about youth violence in the city.
“Keep an eye on your kids — that’s what I do, all this time in New York,” said Anthony Smalls, 36, whose 17- and 18-year-old children live in the neighborhood. “It’s hurtful, very, very hurtful. It can happen so fast.”
The post Man Charged in Stabbing Death of 14-Year-Old Boy Found in Bronx appeared first on New York Times.
