The teenager stabbed and set on fire in the Bronx had recently been dating his 14-year-old sister of the murdered killer, law enforcement sources and the family said Thursday.
Adones Betances – who lives about five blocks from suspected victim Winston Ortiz, 18 – was appalled by the age gap between the two, sources said.
He is accused of stabbing Ortiz three times before refueling with gasoline and lighting it on the fifth floor of a Highbridge building near their homes on Wednesday afternoon.
Sources said Bentances, 22, entered the building just 10 minutes before Ortiz as part of a planned attack.
‘I still can not believe it. What do you mean to do? ‘ ‘Ortiz’s younger brother, Wilmer, 17, said Thursday night outside the family’s apartment.
He confirmed that his brother had been in a relationship with the suspect’s younger sister, but said she had ended it on Wednesday.
“I’m pretty sure it all had to do with a divorce he had to deal with yesterday,” Wilmer said. “This is [his ex-girlfriend’s] older brother, we’re talking about that. ”
The teen said he did not remember why the girl broke off things with his brother, but that it was “something he was too protective of,” he added, “but I do not know what that means.”
His brother, a student at the Metropolitan Lifehouse Charter School, had been “very emotionally sad” about the split, Wilmer said.
The fright of the toe at 3pm on Wednesday alerted neighbors who dipped the flames with buckets of water.
Police said Ortiz stood twice in the back and once in the chest and suffered more than 90 percent of his body.
The dying teenager identified his suspected killer when cops came on the scene, according to sources – who said Betances accidentally took his girlfriend to the dinner after the fatal attack.
“No amount of criminal justice will compensate for the fact that he took a life away,” the victim’s brother said. “I’m sad that someone felt obligated to do this.”
Betances claimed he was framed after his arrest Thursday. He is being held on charges of murder and assault.
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