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Cops Kill Dagger-Wielding Harlem Man After Fatal Stabbing Spree
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 8, 2009
Modified Oct 8, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 8, 2009
Modified Oct 8, 2009
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A murderous Harlem man died in a hail of NYPD bullets last night, after apparently stabbing two men, one fatally. Police arrived at the West 144th Street building around 6:45 last night to find one victim standing outside with stab wounds to his hand and torso, and later discovered another victim stabbed to death in his apartment near his two-year-old, who was unharmed.
Police say that the suspected killer Carlton Lewis, 21, was trying to kick Charles Davis, 50, out of the apartment. Police say that Davis, the live-in boyfriend of Lewis's mother, "didn't move fast enough, so [Lewis] stabbed him.' The weapon was a ceremonial dagger with a six-inch blade (seen here).
While one police officer took care of Davis, the other cops encountered Lewis in the stairwell, and a source tells the Post he yelled at the officers, "You want some of this?" NYPD spokesmean Paul Browne tells the Daily News, "He keeps coming. He is closing the distance between the lead officer and himself, coming at the officers with the dagger. The lead officer yells three times: 'Drop the knife!' He does not, and continues to come ... and the [lead] officer fires." At least five shots were fired, with Lewis hit three times in the torso and once in the left shoulder. He died at the scene.
It was not until Lewis was neutralized that police found the body of neighbor Marco Betancourt, who staggered back to his apartment after being stabbed. Resident Esperanza Ramirez says Betancourt was intervening to try to stop the violent dispute when he was fatally stabbed by Lewis. Ramirez tells the CBS2, "He was always a gentleman. He opened the door for you. He walked the dog. He talked to my son about fish and gave my son a fish in a huge fish tank." Another neighbor tells the News, "[Betancourt] was a stay-at-home dad who was nice to everybody. We were praying it wasn't him."
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John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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