A 35-year-old man has been arrested following the fatal stabbing of a second 48-year-old man on Monday morning in a well known hot spot for crime and tragedy in the Fordham Manor section of The Bronx.

Police said that on Monday morning, Nov. 18, at around 11.42 a.m., officers from the 52nd Precinct responded to a 911 call regarding an assault in progress in front of 2631 Marion Avenue. “Upon arrival, officers observed a 48-year-old male with stab wounds to his chest. EMS transported the victim to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased,” an NYPD spokesperson said, initially adding that the investigation remained ongoing.

The deceased was identified as Bronxite, Padilla Nestor, from the Williamsbridge section.

Pursuant to an ongoing investigation, on Monday evening, the NYPD said Junior Ovales, 35, of Fordham Manor was arrested at around 7 p.m. somewhere within the confines of the 52nd Precinct, which covers the neighborhoods of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham, Kingsbridge, Bronx Park, and University Heights.

They said he was charged with second degree murder, first degree manslaughter, and fourth degree criminal possession of a weapon.

A vigil and candle memorial were seen at the sight of the stabbing later on Monday night as different groups of people gathered around the area. We asked a few people who appeared to be mourning the victim if they would like to speak about him or the incident, but they declined.

We also asked a few other people in the neighborhood if they would like to comment on the incident or if they had more information on how the stabbing unfolded. Speaking in Spanish, one local female employee who declined to be identified, said she just heard there was a fight and someone got killed but didn’t know much more. Another group of older men said they arrived at the location later that evening and had also just heard about the incident later and didn’t know much more about what happened. One of them said people were hesitant to talk about it generally.

Another young woman we spoke to in the area suggested it was dangerous to ask or to speak about what happened. We also spoke to some people living in Williamsbridge close to where the victim lived. Nobody was aware that the man had been killed and nobody had any comment.

2631 Marion Avenue is located at the intersection of East 194th Street. Our Lady of Mercy Church is located nearby at 2496 Marion Avenue, and Fordham United Methodist Church is also located on Marion Avenue close to East Fordham Road. In 2010, the 52nd Precinct installed a watch tower in the area, as reported. P.S. / I.S. 54 is also located a short distance away from the scene of the stabbing.

Earlier on Monday, in an unrelated incident, Police Commissioner Tom Donlon joined New York City Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny in announcing that a man had been arrested for an apparent stabbing spree earlier on Monday in Manhattan. Two people were initially stabbed to death and a third woman was also stabbed and remained in critical condition after the incident. The third victim also died later at a hospital.

The suspect was arrested after a member of the public contacted a police officer who took action to apprehend him. The Manhattan incidents, which took place at three different locations, seemingly stemmed from a mental health episode which the suspect was experiencing. [There was no connection between The Bronx and the Manhattan stabbing incidents].

At the 52nd Precinct Community Council meeting on Nov. 21, we asked Deputy Inspector Chase Maneri, commanding officer of the 52nd Precinct, if, however, he knew if the Bronx dispute and stabbing had perhaps also stemmed from a separate mental health episode. He said, to his knowledge, it had not and was simply a dispute between the two people involved.

He added that the suspect had been picked up by police at a nearby bodega. At the meeting, the principal of a local school raised concerns that the suspect could have been wandering around the area potentially endangering students before he was picked up, and asked why no school lockdown had been put into effect.

Maneri said the suspect was apprehended quite quickly after the incident as police had a strong lead on which direction he had fled. The deputy inspector explained that if a search of the suspect’s likely destination after his most recent sighting had not yielded quick results, police may have considered a lockdown but as this was not the case, they didn’t implement one.

He added that generally lockdowns can cause some unintended consequences, especially when schools are about to break for the day and parents are arriving to pick up their children, like traffic congestion though this was not the situation in this instance as the stabbing took place in the morning.

In 2022, mental health professionals received a boost with a $1 million donation towards student loan forgiveness. The program was designed to help attract and retain doctors, nurse practitioners, and other clinicians who care for New Yorkers with mental health or substance use needs as the U.S. faced a national mental health professional shortage.

In January 2023, a misdemeanor mental health court was launched in Westchester County, offering eligible individuals community-based, mental health treatment and services as an alternative to conventional prosecution.

Read a recent op-ed published by Norwood News on the topic on prioritizing mental health here. For some related coverage on the topic of mental health, click here, here, here, and here.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.