The teenager accused of stabbing and killing a man near Times Square on Monday night found him sleeping on the sidewalk and woke him up before the attack, prosecutors allege.
According to a criminal complaint from the Manhattan district attorney’s office, 17-year-old Jayden Sanchez and two other people approached 39-year-old Leonides Baez around 11:30 p.m. as he slept on the ground outside a building on West 43rd Street near Broadway.
The complaint didn’t specify how exactly the group roused Baez, but prosecutors and police said the encounter quickly turned into a physical altercation.
Surveillance video from the scene showed Sanchez pulling something out of his vest pocket and chasing Baez into a nearby passageway, where he stabbed him in his chest, the complaint stated. Baez sustained multiple stab wounds and was later pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital, law enforcement officials said.
Sanchez and the two other people fled the scene and boarded the subway at Columbus Circle, according to the complaint. Officers took him into custody on Wednesday evening in Coney Island, where they stopped him after he jumped a turnstile, officials said.
Police later found a scalpel on him, according to authorities, and were investigating whether it was the weapon used in the Midtown attack. Sanchez then told investigators he attacked Baez as part of a social media trend, officials said.
The teen was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday on charges of murder, assault and criminal weapons possession. He is also charged with several counts of robbery for allegedly stealing cash and other items from newsstands and stores near Times Square throughout April and May.
A judge ordered Sanchez held without bail as his case proceeds. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a message early Friday.
Police said they are still looking for the two other people they suspect in the attack on Baez. His last known address was in Worcester, Massachusetts, according to the NYPD.
Charles Lane contributed reporting. This story is based on preliminary information from law enforcement officials and may be updated.
