A 19-year-old Bronxite died in his father’s arms after a furious neighbor stabbed him in the heart during a parking dispute, according to the victim’s father.
Dominic Aguilera and his father, Jose Cruz, were about to leave for work when a downstairs neighbor in their apartment building knocked on their door and demanded that Aguilera move his vehicle, which was double parked on Inwood Ave. near Featherbed Lane and blocking the attacker’s car, Cruz said.
Aguilera went downstairs and moved his silver Mercedes automobile a few feet away, but the assailant, a 45-year-old Uber driver, remained irate, according to his father.
Cruz, 52, claimed that the neighbor shouted at Aguilera before stabbing him across the chest and entering his heart. Around 8:23 a.m., the bleeding youth staggered into a nearby Morris Heights deli, where his father ran to join him.
“I witnessed my son die,” said Aguilera’s father, who employed him at his Mt. Vernon auto business. “He died in my arms.” “Our entire family is shocked. We did not expect anything like this.”
According to the manager of the deli where Aguilera died, double parking is common in the region.
“People double-park cars and block people who are legally parked, so when you want to get out, you can’t get out,” said Wendy Reinoso, a local politician. “That’s what happened here.”
Noer, the victim’s brother, was surprised by how quickly the argument escalated.
“It was over a parking spot,” he claimed. “My brother died due to a parking spot.
“My brother is not a bad kid,” the sibling clarified.
Reinoso reported witnessing Aguilera stumble into her deli, drenched in blood.
“When the kid came in, he was bleeding, and then I called 911,” she recalled. “He was bleeding a lot.”
Reinoso stated that the young man died on the floor of her bodega as workers applied pressure to his wounds.
“He then fell down on the floor,” Reinoso told The News, pointing to the location where Aguilera collapsed. “We had the blood, but he passed right there.”
Police reported that after paramedics transported Aguilera to Lincoln Hospital, they pronounced him dead.
The killer fled in a dark-colored vehicle and was still at large Thursday evening, according to police.
Both the stabber and his victim were frequent customers at the Inwood Ave. bodega, where Aguilera died.
The attacker was on his way to work when Aguilera’s car blocked his vehicle, according to Omar Reyes, Reinoso’s husband and coworker.
“The other person had to get to work. “I know he works extremely hard for his family,” Reyes remarked. “He works as a… driver.” “Now, he has sacrificed everything for a parking spot.”
Reinoso stated that both men were good customers who had never created any trouble at her deli.
“They were very peaceful.” “I am not sure what happened,” she stated. “You lose your patience just like that.”
Reinoso said she is heartbroken about the needless homicide.
“[Aguilera] was around my kids’ age. My heart is broken today.
Aguilera’s closing remarks haunted the victim’s father.
“Dad, don’t let me die,” he remembered the child saying.
