A Bronx teen accused of stabbing his classmates in retaliation over alleged homophobic bullying has been found guilty of manslaughter.
On Monday, Judge Michael Gross found Abel Cedeño guilty on charges of manslaughter, weapons possession, and assault for fatally stabbing 15-year-old Matthew McCree and stabbing Arian Laboy when he attempted to intervene at the Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation in 2017.
Cedeño’s lawyers asked Gross to allow their client to remain free until he’s sentenced, in order to receive psychiatric counseling and medication. But Gross denied the request, saying that could take place in prison.
Cedeño was taken into custody after the verdict was read and could face up to 50 years in prison after he’s sentenced on Sept. 10.
The teenager had originally been charged with murder for stabbing McCree, but was was eventually reduced to one count of first-degree manslaughter.
Prosecutors argued that Cedeño had brandished the knife on social media days before the incident, showing he planned the attack beforehand. In fact, they claimed that McCree and Laboy had not bullied Cedeño at all.
But Cedeño’s lawyers argued that he had been the victim of homophobic bullying over the years, and used the knife in self-defense.
Cedeño testified in court last week that he had endured years of homophobic bullying because of his sexual orientation.
“They pulled my hair, they pushed me, called me derogatory gay slurs,” he said.
Abel Cedeño and his legal team – Photo: NBC 4-New York.
Police claim that McCree and Laboy, as well as others, had been throwing broken bits of pencils, pen caps, and balls of paper at Cedeño’s head during history class. Cedeño allegedly excused himself to go to the bathroom, and returned with a switchblade knife.
Cedeño testified that his classmates had been harassing him in class. He claimed he didn’t remember stabbing anyone, but remembered being attacked.
“I yelled, whoever threw that is a [expletive],” Cedeño said of the classmates throwing things at him. “Matthew got up and said ‘it was me’… he pushed Mr. Jacoby to get to me. I used my right hand to take out the knife.”
McCree’s mother, Louna Dennis, said she was grateful for the verdict.
“I’m just so happy I got justice for my son,” she said.
Misha Brown, a 37-year-old influencer, actor, and host of the Wondery podcast The Big Flop, revealed in a TikTok video on July 17 that he had received an apology from his former high school bully -- 20 years after graduation -- after the bully's 15-year-old son came out as gay.
"Hey man, I just felt like I needed to tell you that I'm sorry I was a damn jerk in school," the message read. "Really, I'm sorry. But I've been following what you've done lately and it's really cool. I'm proud of you. You're like really helping people. The reason I wanted to tell you all this is I've got a son now. He's 15, and he told me he's gay. Man, all I thought about when he told me that was how I hope people are nicer to him than I was to you. It makes me proud to be his dad. And hopefully that makes up for something."
Police in Paris, France, have arrested a homeless Tunisian migrant accused of killing four men whose bodies were later found in the Seine River. The case began on August 13, when a commuter spotted a corpse floating in the river. Investigators subsequently recovered three more bodies from the same stretch of water.
Autopsies confirmed all four victims were men. At least two had been strangled, though forensic experts could not determine the exact cause of death for the others, according to The Times. Police are investigating the four deaths as homicides.
Donald Zieben-Hood is being held without bail after police say he killed his husband in their Harlem apartment following a history of violent domestic disputes.
Jacob Zieben-Hood, a 34-year-old gay personal trainer, was found dead on August 1 in the Harlem apartment he shared with his model husband, following what police say was a violent altercation between the two. Authorities allege Donald Zieben-Hood, 40, stabbed his husband multiple times before leaving him seated on the bathroom toilet.
According to the New York Post, Jacob suffered multiple gashes to his head and several stab wounds to the back of his leg, including one to his calf that severed an artery and caused him to bleed to death.
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