CRIME
Grindr Date Murdered With Machete in the Bronx
Alleged assailant charged with murder; victim’s identity not yet revealed
BY MATT TRACY
A weekend Grindr meetup
in the Bronx turned
into a deadly, bloody
nightmare on September
27 when a 50-year-old man allegedly
used a machete to murder
a guy he met on the dating app.
Juan Alonso is accused of murdering
the victim — who has yet to
be identifi ed — at his second fl oor
apartment at 315 East 206 Street
between Perry Avenue and Bainbridge
Avenue in the Norwood section
of the Bronx, police told Gay
City News.
The New York Post, citing police
sources, reported that Alonso’s
roommate walked in and discovered
Alonso holding a machete
while hovering over the victim’s
dead body. Cops told Gay City
News they arrived shortly after
7 p.m. and found the victim face
down with slash wounds on his
head and back. They took Alonso
into custody and subsequently
A machete-wielding 50-year-old man allegedly killed his Grindr date on the second fl oor of this apartment
building at 315 East 206 Street in the Bronx.
charged him with murder, manslaughter,
and criminal possession
of a weapon.
While it is not clear whether
Alonso and the victim knew each
other — or what exactly led to the
brutal murder — the New York
Post reported that investigators
are looking into whether there was
a “dispute over not liking certain
GOOGLE MAPS
sex activities.”
Alonso also underwent a psychiatric
evaluation after he was taken
into custody, according to reports,
and the status of his mental health
is unknown.
One of Alonso’s friends, Cathy
Lopez, told the Daily News that
Alonso told her he welcomed roommates
into his home so he could
afford to pay rent. However, he told
her those roommates abused him.
“He must have been pushed
to the edge,” Lopez told the Daily
News.
There have been several stabbing
incidents involving LGBTQ
victims throughout the year. A
queer Black man was killed in Far
Rockaway on Labor Day by a man
who allegedly hurled anti-LGBTQ
slurs at him before stabbing him
to death, and a 32-year-old Black
transgender woman later identifi
ed as Tiffany Harris was fatally
stabbed at a Bronx apartment on
July 26.
The Grindr meetup gone wrong
follows another local gruesome
incident that originated on a dating
app in January. A 24-year-old
Oklahoma man, Alex Ray Scott,
was charged with second-degree
murder killing a 64-year-old antiques
dealer, Kenneth Savinski, in
the victim’s apartment at 120 East
83rd Street between Park and Lexington
Avenues in Manhattan.
Homophobe Punches Man in Lower Manhattan
Alleged attacker fl ees scene after leaving victim with bloody nose, lacerated lip
BY MATT TRACY
A man hurled an anti-gay
slur at another man in
Lower Manhattan on
September 26 before
punching him twice and taking
off, police said.
It was shortly after 11:30 p.m. on
Saturday night when the unidentifi
ed assailant allegedly spewed the
homophobic rhetoric and hit the
24-year-old victim in his face and
the back of his head, cops said.
The late-night attack, which unfolded
at 85 Broad Street between
Pearl Street and South William
Street, left the victim with a bloody
nose and laceration to his lip.
The attacker bolted the scene
immediately following the pair of
punches — and authorities are
trying to track him down. He is described
by police as a white male
with blonde hair, 5’9” tall, and 200
pounds. He was last seen donning
a white long-sleeved shirt with
black shorts and black sneakers.
The attack marked one of several
violent incidents and premature
deaths that have impacted
the local LGBTQ community in
recent weeks. Less than 24 hours
after the Lower Manhattan attack,
a 50-year-old man allegedly
murdered his Grindr date with a
machete at an apartment in the
Norwood section of the Bronx. On
Labor Day, a 51-year-old Queens
man allegedly stabbed a 20-yearold
Black queer man to death in
Far Rockaway.
NYPD
Cops are looking for this man in connection to an anti-LGBTQ attack in Lower Manhattan on September
26.
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