NEW YORK – The son of a Bronx grocer has been sentenced for the fatal stabbing of a customer inside his father’s store in 2019, the district attorney announced.
Ronny Torres will serve 19 years behind bars after he pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in May, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said Wednesday. Torres, who last lived in the Mt. Hope neighborhood, is said to have stabbed victim Frankie Williams multiple times “without provocation,” according to Clark.
The incident occurred around 1 p.m. on Oct. 24, 2019, at the deli Torres’ father owns in Longwood, police said at the time.
Williams went into Robinson Deli and Grocery and bought a drink, according to a friend, and went to sit on a bench across the street. He then went back to the store he frequented to buy a sandwich, but never came out again, the friend told NBC New York.
Williams and Torres got into an argument, police said. Williams’ wife told NBC New York that she was told that workers suspected her husband of stealing a beer, which sparked the fight.
The dispute escalated and Williams was repeatedly stabbed in the stomach and chest, according to investigators. He was rushed to Lincoln Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after. Torres turned himself in to police that same day, Clark said.
Information from Torres’ attorney was not immediately clear.
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