Police said Monday night that the three people who were taken in for questioning in connection with the killing of Williams “AI” Alvarez, 45, from Parkchester aboard the D train in the early hours of Friday, Feb. 23, have been charged with murder. All three lived in Bedford Park.

 

As reported, cops had been asking for the public’s help identifying the three people seen in the attached video and photos who they said had been sought in connection with what appears to have been a random killing that tragically occurred amid a dispute aboard the D train at 182nd-183rd Street subway station in Fordham Heights on Friday.

 

On Sunday, Feb. 25, police named the three people sought in connection to the incident as Justin Herde, 24, Betty Cotto, 38, and Alfredo Trinidad, 42. On Monday, they said Herde of East 205th Street in Bedford Park, Cotto, of nearby Villa Avenue, also in Bedford Park, and Trinidad, of the same Villa Avenue address in Bedford Park, were each charged with murder, manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon. They are presumed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.

As reported, an NYPD spokesperson said that on Friday at around 5.02 a.m., Alvarez, 45, was seated aboard a southbound D train departing the Fordham Road subway station [one stop before the station where the incident occurred], when a person sat down next to him and a verbal dispute ensued.

 

They said the dispute escalated into a physical altercation and the person who sat next to Alvarez was later joined by two additional individuals, who, acting in concert, physically assaulted him.

 

Police said the three assailants were last seen fleeing the train at the 182nd-183rd Street subway station and Alvarez was transported by EMS to St. Barnabas Hospital where he was pronounced deceased.

THE NYPD IS asking for the public’s help identifying the persons seen in this video who they say are wanted for questioning in connection with a homicide that occurred aboard the D train at 182nd-183rd Street in Fordham Heights on Friday morning, Feb. 23, 2024. Video courtesy of the NYPD

The killing followed a mass shooting on the 4 line at nearby Mt. Eden subway station earlier this month. Bronx subway riders later gave their reaction to the latest D train incident, as well as their thoughts on subway safety in general.

 

Meanwhile, neighbors of the victim, William ‘AI’ Alvarez of Parkchester, have shared their reaction to his death. At Alvarez’s home on Metropolitan Avenue in Parkchester, Norwood News spoke to some neighbors of the victim on Saturday, Feb. 24, and asked if they had known him and if they had heard about the incident.

 

One female resident who declined to be identified replied, “No, I don’t take public transportation. God, I don’t watch the news, it’s depressing.” When informed that the victim lived in her building, the woman said, “Oh, that’s unfortunate. Okay.”

A male resident who said he was also a friend of Alvarez said, “My daughter called me and told me [about the incident] last night.” Referring to Alvarez, he added, “His son, Justin, grew up and now he’s grown. He’s taking it real hard, Justin. My daughter told me Justin’s taking it real hard.”

 

Asked if they knew exactly what had happened or how it happened, since the cause of death is not yet known, the resident said, “I think my daughter said the guy sat down next to him and he was with two other guys and a girl, and I think they got into an argument and he [Alvarez] wasn’t one to, you know, take crap from anybody, you know? He was a pretty rough kid.”

As reported, police said Friday that Alvarez had suffered a wound consistent with either a gunshot or a puncture wound from a sharp object to the chest and that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine the type of wound, and the victim’s cause of death.

 

Asked how long Alvarez had lived at the location, the resident said, “He lived on the 7th floor for years. I live on the 1st floor, but his kids would come down with my kids and hung out all the time. I took them every summer to Orchard Beach and Jones Beach.”

Asked if he knew where Alvarez had been going when he was killed, and what he did for a living, the resident said, “I don’t know what he did. He was gone for a while; I didn’t see him. Then I spoke to him two months ago, right over there (pointing to Metropolitan Avenue) on the corner with his son, Justin.”

 

The resident added, “I took their numbers and then there was another gentleman from the 7th floor and we spoke, all four of us, talking on the corner over there, bulls***ting, and gave him a big hug. I hadn’t seen him in a while and Justin, I see all the time, the son. I bump into him all the time around here. He lives in the neighborhood, but my daughter told me he’s taking it real hard.”

Asked if he was shocked to hear what had happened, the resident said, “Yeah, I’m sick all night. I was sick all night. I was crying last night like a baby. I just lost my son to muscular dystrophy last year; I was still grieving that. Now I have to hear this.”

 

Asked if Alvarez had any other family besides his son, the resident said, “His wife is in The Bronx, somewhere.” Asked if they had been separated, the man said, “Yeah. I don’t understand it. What the hell was he doing on the D train? I don’t know what the hell he was doing there. That’s what I was asking my daughter. What the hell was he doing on the D train. He was working for all I know. Maybe he had a night job.”

Asked what type of work he did, the resident said, “He used to move furniture a lot with my son-in-law. They were moving furniture, picking up furniture and moving it and stuff like that. I just came from church and told my priest about it and he said he would pray for him, pray for his soul. St. Raymond’s, I just came from there. Yeah, they all know him here.”

 

Asked how long he had lived in the building, the resident said, “God, I’ve been here since ‘93. He was here for at least 10 years.”

As reported, during a press conference on Friday, NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper said, “I’ve been fully briefed and updated on how this case is progressing and as I stand here right now, I am very confident that identifications and arrests will be made in the near future.”

 

Meanwhile, NYPD Chief Jerry O’Sullivan of the detective bureau said during the same press conference on Friday, “Based on video, we’re able to determine that at 4.57 hours, this morning, three individuals get on the train on Kingsbridge Road and Grand Concourse [two stops before the station where the incident occurred]. They enter the second car of an eight-car train, which is traveling southbound, on the D train. The cameras in that car capture that entire train ride. It was very helpful and I’m confident it’s going to be helpful in our investigation, in addition to the prosecution.”

As reported, police officials said on Friday that there was no audio on the available video captured aboard the train but Kemper said there are witnesses. “I’m not going to get into what the witnesses told us, but we do have eyewitnesses and ear witnesses.” Police also said there were other riders on the same car as the incident occurred and there were other riders on the cars adjoining.

 

To read our initial story on the NYPD press conference and comments from the MTA and other elected officials on the incident, click here and to read local subway riders’ reaction to the killing, click here.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.