Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced on Thursday, March 21, that a Bronx man who stabbed and burned alive an 18-year-old man in the Highbridge section of the Bronx in 2020 has been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder after a three-week jury trial.

Reacting to the case, Clark said, “Winston Ortiz was killed in a torturous manner; stabbed and then set afire while he was still alive, because the defendant was upset that his sister and Winston had had a relationship. He will be remembered as a caring, family oriented, young man and it’s unfathomable to think he was killed in such a horrific way.”

Clark said the defendant, Adones Betances, 26, last of University Avenue in Highbridge, was sentenced on March 21 to life in prison without parole by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Jeanette Rodriguez-Morick. She said a jury convicted Betances on Feb. 9, of first-degree Murder after a three-week jury trial.

According to the investigation, on Aug. 12, 2020, at around 3 p.m. inside the 5^th floor hallway of Woodycrest Avenue, also in Highbridge, Betances approached Ortiz and started an argument because he was upset over his sister’s relationship with the victim. Betances stabbed Ortiz multiple times in the chest and back before dousing the victim in lighter fluid, and setting him ablaze.

Residents heard Winton’s screams from the hallway and found him on fire. During the trial, body worn camera footage from a responding officer was played, showing Winston in his final moments, naming his attacker and praying before he died.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Homicide Council George Suminski of the Bronx District Attorney’s homicide bureau and Assistant District Attorney Neelam Chhikara of its special investigations bureau, under the supervision of Christine Scaccia, chief of the homicide bureau, and under the overall supervision of James Brennan, deputy chief of the trial division, and Theresa Gottlieb, chief of the trial division.

Clark thanked Trial Preparation Supervisor Kimberly Cameron, and Trial Preparation Assistants Jonathan Romero, Johnathan Campa, Yoisy Jimenez, and Jazmine Pagoada, all of the homicide bureau, along with homicide bureau advocates Ana Pimentel, Amelis Santana and Laura Ramirez; Selena Ley, director of the digital forensic laboratory, Peter Kennedy, chief of the technical investigations bureau, video unit supervisor Joao D’Alessandro and video technician, Stalin Crespo, of the Bronx DA video unit, as well as former digital forensics examiner, Tina Razack of the digital forensics lab for their work on the case.

She also thanked NYPD Detective Arelis Dubose of the Bronx homicide task force, and NYPD Detective Corey Simpson, retired NYPD Detective Claudio Velez, and NYPD Sergeants Vanessa Solis and Danielle Martinez, all of the 44th Precinct, for their work on the investigation.

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