A Queens man was arrested after he allegedly fatally shoved his landlord down a flight of stairs. And although the tenant initially told investigators the landlord accidentally fell as the tenant was moving a mattress, there was no mattress to be seen in security camera footage reviewed by police.
Police say the incident happened around 2:30 p.m. on Sunday when landlord Edgar Moncayo, 71, visited his Corona property on 102nd Street and tried to get inside. The Daily News reports that Moncayo was trying to collect $200 in back rent from tenant Alex Garces, 22, when they started arguing in the doorway. Moncayo was reportedly on the phone with his wife moments before his death; he can be heard on the video saying “Call the police!”
In the video, Garces appears to push Moncayo down the stairs. His head slammed against the pavement, causing a traumatic brain injury. He was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where he died.
The Post reports that Garcia initially told cops the whole thing was an accident that happened "as he tried to carry his mattress out of the building and hit the front door, causing Moncayo to fall." But after investigators reviewed Ring doorbell camera footage, Garces was arrested and charged with two counts of manslaughter.
Montayo, who has three adult daughters and seven grandchildren, lived in Corona for 25 years, working two jobs parking cars seven days a week. His grandson, Andy Jativa, told the Daily News that Garces had paid $400 rent to move into a room in Moncayo’s two-story house last year, but hadn't paid his rent the past month, and had broken Montayo's house rules.
“My grandfather said, ‘I’m even dropping the price for you. I’m not a bad person.’ ...He was gonna drop the month’s rent to $200," Jativa said. “My grandfather was trying to get some of the money he was owed. He wasn’t trying to get rough with him. He was just trying to get paid. What is $200? You can borrow that money.”
