Teenager, 18, is arrested for murder after man, 64, was beaten to death on Christmas Eve and robbed of $1 in horror gang attack caught on security footage
- Abu Conteh, 18, was charged with murder after Juan Fresnada, 61, was brutally beaten and robbed of a dollar on Christmas Eve in the Bronx
- Fresnada was attacked on the street as he walked with partner Bayron Caceres
- Conteh was arrested at his home a few miles away from the crime scene
- Cops have identified Conteh’s accomplices and are working to track them down
Juan Fresnada, (pictured), was attacked as he walked down the street with his 29-year-old partner, Bayron Caceres, in the Bronx
A teenager, 18, has been arrested and charged over a fatal attack on a 61-year-man who was defending his partner when they were set upon on Christmas Eve.
Juan Fresnada was attacked as he walked down the street with his 29-year-old partner, Bayron Caceres, at 1.28 am in the Bronx last Tuesday.
He was beaten so badly that he suffered swelling to his brain and a fractured skull. Caceres was not seriously injured.
Abu Conteh, 18, has been charged with murder, gang assault and robbery for the brutal attack which saw Fresnada robbed of just $1.
Fresnada was rushed to the hospital but he was pronounced dead on Saturday, four days after the assault.
He took several blows as he tried to protect Caceres from his assailants outside a McDonald’s on Third Avenue in Concourse Village.
Conteh was arrested at his home a few miles away from the crime scene and brought to the 42nd Precinct station house after he was identified as one of Fresnanda’s alleged attackers, according to the New York Daily News.
Juan Fresnada was attacked as he walked down the street with his 29-year-old partner, Bayron Caceres, (right) at 1.28am on Christmas Eve
Cops have also identified Conteh’s accomplices and are working to track them down, officials told New York Daily News.
Footage captures the incident and police issued the alleged assailants in surveillance shots in a bit to find them.
Conteh’s mother, Isataturay Conteh, told the outlet that he did not assault Fresnada.
‘He saw people fighting and he knows those people in the video but he never touched that man.
The NYPD has released this surveillance footage still image to try to identify the assailants
Footage captures the incident and police issued the alleged assailants in surveillance shots in a bit to find them
‘I don’t know all his friends. Abu goes to school and comes home. We expect him always around 7 or 8 pm.’
‘He’s stubborn. Even when the cops came for him this morning he was being stubborn. He’s stubborn but a good kid.
‘It’s not him who killed this man. We go out like a family. We cook together, we eat, He’s close with his siblings.’
Caceres told The New York Daily News how Fresnada protected him. He refers to him as his husband but the pair were not legally married.
Fresnada took several blows as he tried to protect Caceres from his assailants outside a McDonald’s on Third Avenue in Concourse Village
Conteh was arrested at his home a couple miles from the crime scene and brought to the 42nd Precinct station house after he was identified as one of Fresnanda’s alleged attackers
Fresnada and Caceres were leaving the McDonald’s just before when a thief came up to them and demanded money from them
He claimed: ‘I’m nervous about it. I’m thinking a lot about it…. A lot of people told me that I should cover my face when I was talking to the news.
Referring to the arrest he added: ‘I’m skeptical. I don’t know what might happen. Hopefully justice comes on the way. If I have to go to court, if I have to go the grand jury, if I have to do something to recognize this guy, I will do it.
He added: ‘My dream was to live another 20 years and I would push him in a wheelchair when he is 80. And we would travel the world together.’
Caceres claimed he did not believe the assault was a hate crime as they were called no homophobic names.
The couple have lived in the Bronx’s Morrisania neighborhood since 2016.