A Bronx man is facing murder, manslaughter and weapons possession charges after police arrested him Thursday for the stabbing death of a teenager in the borough.
Andrew Tollinche, 22, was taken into custody in the same precinct where 17-year-old Jonathan Melo was fatally stabbed on Wednesday afternoon. Police said he lives at the building on Beach Avenue in Soundview where the incident occurred.
NYPD officials said Tollinche and Melo got into a verbal altercation that turned physical, and the 22-year-old stabbed the teen in his back. Melo later died at the hospital. Authorities said they are investigating whether a dispute on social media played a role in the fight.
Melo’s mother, Raquel Melo, said the arrest brought her some relief, but she is grieving her son’s loss and calling for justice. The family lives about a mile from where he was attacked.
“My son Jonathan had nothing to do with this guy, had never talked to him,” Raquel Melo said in a phone interview Friday. “He was literally [in the] wrong place, wrong time.”
The 17-year-old is the latest New York City teen to be killed in an act of violence, according to police reports. A series of recent teen homicides across the five boroughs has raised concerns among various city officials and community members about young people’s safety.
Raquel Melo and her son Jonathan Melo on his 16th birthday.
Raquel Melo said detectives told her that her son was passing through the neighborhood on a scooter with his cousin and another friend as Tollinche argued with someone else. When that person got into his car and left, she said, Jonathan Melo somehow became the recipient of Tollinche’s aggression.
“My kid just happened to be the last one on the scooter, and he caught him from the back,” she said.
Tollinche was set to be arraigned Friday and did not yet have an attorney listed in the case.
Jonathan Melo’s life revolved around his family, friends and girlfriend, his mother said. He played basketball, had recently developed a passion for working out at the gym and often took a long time in the family’s bathroom to do his hair, Raquel Melo recalled.
“He just lit up all the room,” she said. “The outpour of support that I’ve been getting for my son and his friends, it just goes to show this is a good kid,”
Jonathan Melo, who went by JJ, is the second of her four children. She said his siblings are devastated by his death, as are the many friends he frequently brought to the family’s home.
Raquel Melo said her son was going to graduate high school this year and was excited to chase his dreams of becoming a successful businessman.
“He wanted to become a real estate agent,” she said. “He was learning about day trading. He had a little notebook, he was watching the videos every day. He had a dream as well to start a clothing line."
“He wanted to do something big with his life,” she added.
This story is based on preliminary information from police and may be updated.
