Police say they have arrested two more suspects in connection with the stabbing death of an immigrant man who was cornered and assaulted in a tent city on Randall Island over the weekend.
New York City police killed Ferniz Horta, 33, on Monday, two days after Dafren Canizares, 25, was killed with a knife inside a cafeteria tent at the sprawling shelter, police said. Anthony Navas, 27, was arrested on suspicion of gang assault.
Moises Coronado, 27, who is suspected of possessing a knife, was taken into custody shortly after the slaying at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and was charged with murder the next day, police said.
Prosecutors and officials said Coronado said something to Cañizares' girlfriend, which led to a deadly scuffle.
The mob then cornered Cañizares, cornered him against a door, and Coronado allegedly stabbed him in the chest, according to a criminal complaint filed against the murder suspect.
Police recovered a knife at the scene, officials said.
Coronado was arraigned Sunday night in Manhattan Criminal Court on charges of murder and gang assault and was ordered held without bail until his next court hearing on Friday.
He pleaded not guilty during that court appearance, records show.
Arraignments for Horta and Navas were pending Tuesday.
Roger Castillo, a Venezuelan immigrant, described Cañizares as a “good person” and a “good friend,” adding that safety measures need to be strengthened in shelters.
“There's not much security and they're far away,” Castillo said of the security guards. “It happens very quickly.”
Some asylum seekers say there are problems with temporary shelters built last year to house migrants flooding into the five boroughs from the U.S. border.
The immigrants around them are divided into “camps” based on ethnicity and home country, with occasional confrontations between Hispanics, Africans, and Haitians, many carrying knives, and petty crime usually rampant. He said it was possible.
In addition, undocumented immigrants who have exceeded the 60-day residency limit on the 2,000-bed property have set up their own temporary quarters in a grassy area just outside the property.
“The problem is you guys keep coming back,” a frustrated park official told a group of about a dozen such migrants in Spanish on Monday morning.
“You haven't stepped forward to get out of this situation. You keep coming back to the same place where you can't help yourself,” he said.
“Yes, you work for your family, to send money to your family. But you came back here doing something you shouldn't have done. This is a public park.”
But their pleas fell on deaf ears, and soon after, a group of miscreants set up a folding table at the police barrier gate, used a small propane burner to cook burgers, and took them with coffee, hot chocolate, and cigarettes to the migrants. I sold it to a friend. and a rolled marijuana joint.
Mayor Eric Adams told reporters Monday that the city will install metal detectors and security cameras on the vast grounds and elsewhere.
“We are conducting a complete security analysis and are increasing our training. [putting] We have introduced several mobilization concepts and categorized our locations in a color-coded scheme,” he said at a press conference on Monday.
“In addition to metal detectors, the police department and our team will utilize visual technology. We plan to install cameras at many of these sites to allow for quick response from our security teams on site. ” he added.
Officials say the city is already spending $25,000 a day to secure the shelter, which houses more than 68,000 migrants.
