'Everybody in the Neighborhood Loved This Man': Dad Is Fatally Stabbed in Front of Wife in Unprovoked Attack

[Sugar Cookie]

A beloved Bronx resident died on Thursday after he was stabbed while inside his vehicle, according to multiple reports.

At about 1:15 p.m., Nathaniel Rivers, 35, parked his car in the Norwood section of the Bronx when Franklin Mesa, 19, allegedly approached him. New York Police Department officers said words were exchanged between the two men, ABC7 reported.

Mesa allegedly reached through the window of the vehicle and stabbed Rivers in the torso, the station reported. CBS, citing police, reports that the attack was unprovoked.

Rivers' wife, who was sitting in the passenger side of the vehicle, grabbed a pry bar and allegedly hit Mesa in an attempt to "fight him off," police said, according to the New York Post.

Mesa ran away from the scene, but was tracked down soon afterward by police.

Mesa was arrested and charged with a single count of second-degree murder, according to online jail records.

'Everybody in the Neighborhood Loved This Man': Dad Is Fatally Stabbed in Front of Wife in Unprovoked Attack

Nathaniel Rivers' wife grabbed a pry bar and allegedly struck the attacker to fight him off

people.com

 

[thuumpr]

Pry bar?

 

[DeeDee]

A crow bar.

 

[Hermy]

The sentences for second degree murder can be harsh but why not first degree? The attack was unprovoked and you don't stab someone in the torso with the intent of causing them a bit of inconvenience.

 

[Satanica]

I suggest not rolling down your window more than just a crack that the person of unknown motives can speak through. If they're up to no good, don't make it easier for them.

 

[TX Leather Face]

Tragic. However, it’s better that he died a humane death by knife wound bleeding out a slow death than to suffer the agony of a gunshot.

 

[Mountaineer95]

The sentences for second degree murder can be harsh but why not first degree? The attack was unprovoked and you don't stab someone in the torso with the intent of causing them a bit of inconvenience.

Right! And even if the perp always keeps a knife on him, pulling it out of its case/holster and approaching a vehicle seems like enough time for premeditation.

 

[Alf]

The sentences for second degree murder can be harsh but why not first degree? The attack was unprovoked and you don't stab someone in the torso with the intent of causing them a bit of inconvenience.

In New York, first-degree murder charges only apply to certain victims. The New York homicide statutes are here.

--Al

 

[Sassedame]

Wow, driving along, going about your day, a seemingly small verbal altercation, like happens every day, and then dead. Family & friends lives changed forever. In a split second.