Photo by Síle Moloney
A 37-year-old woman was charged with second-degree murder and other charges on Tuesday evening, April 29, following the fatal stabbing of a 40-year-old man in Fordham Manor the previous night, police said. The woman lives at the same address as the victim according to police reports and according to a neighbor, she is alleged to be his girlfriend.
Police said that on Monday, April 28, at around 11.07 p.m., police from the 52nd Precinct responded to a 911 call regarding an unconscious male inside a Grand Avenue residential building, located between West 190th Street and West 192nd Street, just over a block from the Kingsbridge Amory.
“Upon arrival, officers observed a 40-year-old male victim with a stab wound to the chest,” a police spokesperson said on Monday. “EMS responded and pronounced the victim deceased on the scene. A person of interest was taken into custody, and the investigation remains ongoing.”
The deceased was later identified as Dwayne Valentine of Grand Avenue, The Bronx. Pursuant to what police said was an ongoing investigation, Cynthia Phillips, also of Grand Avenue, was charged on April 29 at 4 a.m. with murder in the second degree, manslaughter in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.
During a visit to the victim’s home on Thursday, a neighbor, King Vincent, said of Valentine, “I know him because I had just moved here (in August 2024). He was a really nice guy. I used to ask for cigarettes. Like, if I didn’t have any, he would give me some, a cigarette, or I’d try to buy one. But he’s always like, ‘Man, you ain’t gotta buy it. You know, if I got it, I got it.’ I know he really liked to rap because when it’s a nice day like this, sometimes I’ll come over and sit with them. We sit right there on the little concrete wall over there and chat it up and say hi. They were decent. He was decent.”
Asked if he knew what Valentine did for a living, Vincent said, “No, I don’t know what he did for a living. That, I never really pried into his business, but I just know that he was nice to me and was cordial. He complimented me when I leave and go to church, you know, because of the way I’m dressed or whatever. Sometimes I sit over there with them and listen to the music. He liked rap music. They’ll bring a little music box, and we just sit there in the sun and chat it up and smoke cigarettes.”
Photo via social media
Social media profiles for New York-based Dwayne Valentine lists him as a paralegal. Some friends had posted “RIP” messages in tribute to him on social media. Asked if Valentine lived with his girlfriend, Vincent said, “Yeah, and the kids. I think they had a couple of kids.” Asked if he had seen police arrive the previous night, Vincent said he was asleep. “I woke up to this news,” he added.
He continued, “I got a birthday coming up. I was gonna let them know. I didn’t know if I was gonna cook a dinner, because I was gonna ask them to come over. I was friendly with both of them.” Asked if he had noticed any tension between the couple, Vincent said, “She didn’t seem to be hostile, not to me, you know? I don’t know behind doors, but when they were out here, I never saw them arguing. We may…you know, the voice, you know, a disagreement…I don’t know… I’ve never heard any bickering.”
Vincent mentioned that the victim used to have a really good friend called Milton who lived nearby who he said used to hang out with Valentine, but that Milton moved away a few months ago. “Since he moved, he’d [Valentine] be out here by himself. So, sometimes I would say ‘hi’ and just keep going or thank you.”
Asked if he knew where the kids were, Vincent said, “I don’t know.” Asked if he knew their ages, he said, “I think the little boy was probably six or eight because he was going to school. That’s the only one I saw. I didn’t see the other. I think he got a daughter and another son, I think.”
We asked if he had ever seen or heard of any domestic violence issues in relation to the couple. “Nothing, I never seen the police come over there, visually,” Vincent said. Gesturing to another building, he added, “I’ve seen the police go over there.”
According to Domestic Violence Services Network, Inc. (DVSN), though the vast majority of domestic abuse victims are women and the perpetrators men, the statistics surrounding male victims of domestic violence range quite widely, from 1 in 3 (George Mason U) to 1 in 10 (CDC) men experiencing some form of abuse.
According to DVSN, a 2014 National Crime Victimization Study found that nearly a quarter (24%) of all domestic violence victims were men, while DomesticShelters.org cites that less than 15% of abuse victims are men. “This lack of consistency could be due to differing definitions of what constitutes domestic violence and using different parameters to collect and categorize the data,” an extract from DVSN read.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline, for example, reports that 1 in 10 men aged 18 and older in the U.S. experience rape, physical violence, and/or stalking. They then also break it down to 1 in 7 men who experience severe physical violence by an intimate partner alone, versus 1 in 19 men who experience stalking, and 1 in 71 who experience rape.
In August 2020, the National Library of Medicine found that, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), in the context of statistics for male victims of domestic violence, most of the affected men had been violent toward their partners, themselves. It found that 10.6 to 40% of them reported having been abused or maltreated as children.
Photo by Síle Moloney
“Alcohol abuse, jealousy, mental illness, physical impairment, and short relationship duration are all associated with a higher risk of being a victim of domestic violence,” according to the specific extract. The reported consequences of violence include mostly minor physical injuries, impaired physical health, mental health problems such as anxiety or a disruptive disorder, and increased consumption of alcohol and/or illegal drugs.”
Norwood News asked the NYPD if Phillips was reported injured and if she had acted in self-defense in the context of the fatal stabbing incident. They said they had no further information to share at this time. About an hour after Phillips was escorted from the 52nd Precinct in police custody on Tuesday night, another man was seen taken into custody at the stationhouse. Norwood News asked the NYPD what the man was charged with. We have no indication that the two arrests are related. We will share any updates we receive.
We spoke to several other local residents of the area, including some from the Grand Avenue building where the stabbing took place, but they either didn’t want to comment or had no knowledge of the incident. One man exiting the building who said he was visiting from Florida said he generally found the residents in the area to be not very friendly. He said he was completely unaware of the tragedy. He added that most of the doorbells to the building didn’t work.
Meanwhile, Vincent, who said he had returned recently to live in New York, having previously lived in California, added, “From what I understand, the fire department had to break down the door to get in.” Norwood News reached out to the FDNY to ask if this was the case, and will share any details we receive. We asked Vincent if he knew who called the police. “She [Phillips] probably did. I don’t know.” he said. We are, again, unable to confirm if this was the case or not. Offering our condolences to Vincent on Valentine’s passing, he concluded wistfully, “Yeah, my new friend.”
Local services for those affected by domestic or gender-based violence are available in The Bronx. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic or gender-based violence, call 311 and ask to be connected to a NYC Family Justice Center or walk-in Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Bronx District Attorney’s domestic violence unit can be reached on (718) 838 6688.
Call the NYC 24/7 Domestic Violence Hotline on 1-800-621-4673, or visit the NYC Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence for more information.
The Domestic Violence Officer at the 52nd Precinct, which covers some or all of Bedford Park, Fordham, Kingsbridge, Norwood, Bronx Park, and University Heights, can be reached at (718) 220-5843 or via e-mail.
The Domestic Violence Officer for the 50th Precinct, which covers some or all of Kingsbridge, Marble Hill, Riverdale, Fieldston, and Spuyten Duyvil, can be reached at (718) 543-6072 or via e-mail.
The Domestic Violence Officer for the 46th Precinct, which covers some or all of Fordham, University Heights, Morris Heights, and Mount Hope, can be reached at (718) 220-5254 or via e-mail
Photo by Síle Moloney
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 Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.
All calls are strictly confidential.
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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.