A teenager was fatally stabbed in the Bronx on Wednesday afternoon after a dispute escalated into violence, police said Thursday as they looked for the person responsible.
NYPD officials said Jonathan Melo, 17, was with a group of people outside a building on Beach and McGraw avenues in Soundview around 4:30 p.m. He got into a verbal altercation with someone that turned physical, and was stabbed in his back, according to police.
First responders took Melo in critical condition to Jacobi Hospital, where he later died, authorities said.
Police did not make any immediate arrests or release a description of a possible suspect. They said they were still investigating whether Melo knew whoever stabbed him.
Melo lived in the Bronx, about a mile from where he was attacked, according to the NYPD.
The incident comes as officials say teens have been involved either as victims or suspects in a recent spate of violence affecting young people in different parts of New York City.
That includes a shooting in a Queens park that killed 15-year-old Jaden Pierre and a shooting at an East New York bodega that killed 16-year-old Marquise Byfield.
Police said they are still looking for the person who shot a 15-year-old boy on an A train in Queens earlier this week. The shooting left the boy on life support, according to his family.
NYPD data shows homicides are down about 26% citywide so far this year, compared to the same point last year. There were 75 killings this year through April 26.
Violent crime is down significantly in the 43rd Precinct, which includes Soundview and other southeast Bronx neighborhoods, the data shows. Melo is the first person to be killed in the precinct so far in 2026, per the data. There had been three homicides in the precinct by this time last year.
This story is based on preliminary information from police and may be updated.
