Mike Kushnir, 24, of Hell’s Kitchen, New York City, New York, United States has been arrested by the New York City Police Department. He was charged with second-degree murder.

Kushnir allegedly stabbed Gerardo Rivas, 17, of The Bronx, New York City in the torso on a street outside an apartment building in Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City at around 2:09 p.m. on March 27, 2021. The victim’s family lived in the apartment.

It is still unclear how Kushnir and Rivas are connected. The two allegedly had an argument before the former attacked the latter, who later told his rescuers he did not know his attacker.

At around 2:15 p.m. that day, Rivas managed to call the attention of a passing ambulance near the intersection of 181st Street and Saint Nicholas Avenue in New York City. After administering first aid, paramedics took him to New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City where he was pronounced dead around half an hour later.

On April 8, 2021, Kushnir was arrested. When he was arraigned and remanded on April 9, 2021 in Manhattan Criminal Court, he was held without bail.

“This won’t bring my son back but at least there will be justice,” the New York Daily News quoted Rivas’s mother Mirna Rivas, 55, as saying. “It’s been really hard. We’re still destroyed.”

“I don’t know how I’m going to live without my son,” Mirna continued. “We did everything together. He was everything to me.”

Gerardo was a student of George Washington High School in Washington Heights and was supposed to graduate in 2022. A GoFundMe page was made for his family.

Kushnir lived in a luxury building in Hell’s Kitchen but he has been prohibited from entering since a domestic incident with his mother. He is expected to appear in court on April 14, 2021, according to the New York Post.

It was not the first time Kushnir was arrested. In 2017, he pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance.