Adones Betances, 22, was charged with murder and assault in the Winston Ortiz family, 18, according to police, according to police. Betances are in custody, police said.
The couple got into a quarrel on the fifth floor of a Bronx apartment building shortly after 3 a.m. Wednesday, according to police.
During the dispute, Ortiz, of the Bronx, was stabbed three times and an accelerator was fired at him as he stood on fire, NYPD spokesman Francis Salmon said.
His aunt Victoria Ortiz tells CNN that she was told that someone in the building heard his cries and water was going on his body to put out the flames.
Winston Ortiz was then taken to Harlem Hospital where he later died, police said.
“I want to thank everyone who came forward and helped him. At least he was not alone,” Ortiz said.
His aunt says she does not know why her cousin was at the building. She says she last saw him on Saturday in Virginia Beach, where he was visiting her.
He spent his time there cuddling with her dog and playing with her children, she said.
“He’s the kid everyone wishes they had. If he had stayed until the end of the summer, he would still be alive,” Victoria Ortiz said.
Ortiz says her family is heartbroken and broken by the ordeal. She says her cousin was born and raised in New York and was “a good kid who goes to church.”
His aunt now says his 17- and 11-year-old brothers will have to live without him.
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