Juan Garcia surrendered himself to police on Wednesday following the fatal stabbing of Billy Sierra on July 25, New York City Police announced. Sierra, 25, was stabbed to death after he gave the 47-year-old Bronx resident, Garcia, the middle finger. Police say that Garcia turned himself in at the 47th Precinct and admitted stabbing Sierra.
Sierra, of Pelham, NY, was a passenger in a gray Honda Accord that was driven by Pelham resident Graham Kiggins. They passed a car that seemed to have crashed, and an argument ensued. Garcia allegedly yelled for Kiggins to drive slower in the Bronx neighborhood.
Sierra is reported to have given Garcia his middle finger.
Unrelated littering incident led to stabbing death
The clash between Sierra and Garcia was precipitated by a confrontation between the accused and the driver of a Nissan Maxima at nearly 7 in the evening on July 25. The New York Daily News reported that Garcia lives on the block where a motorist tossed a Wendy’s bag out of the Nissan. After Garcia had a confrontation with that car’s driver, the motorist sideswiped Garcia’s car. He allegedly got into his Toyota Camry, along with two more people, to find the Nissan.
When Garcia didn’t find the driver of the Nissan, they went back to Eastchester Place, where the initial incident took place.
As Garcia was standing on the sidewalk, still angered about the trash tossing incident, Kiggins, Sierra, and their friend Allen Cumberbatch drove past. Garcia reportedly yelled for Kiggins to drive slower and not to speed in his neighborhood. Sierra then extended his middle finger to Garcia, according to the New York Daily News.
Once again, Garcia and the two people with him got into the accused’s Toyota and, this time, followed the Honda.
Sierra, Kiggins, and Cumberbatch, then, drove to a restaurant also in the Bronx area a block away on at Hollers Avenue and Eastchester Place. Garcia was reportedly enraged, according to the Pelham Daily Voice.
Clash between the accused and victim escalated to fatal chest wound
While Sierra and his friends were exiting the car outside of the restaurant, Garcia reportedly pulled up. He asked who gave him “the bird,” according to police. After Sierra had said he did it, Garcia got out of his car. A fight broke out between several people in the group. Allegedly, the accused, then, pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim several times. Police said Garcia “fatally plunged” the knife into Sierra’s chest, the New York Daily News reported.
According to the New York Daily News, police sources said that Sierra’s friends started to take the victim to the hospital, yet “gave up” after they had driven roughly a mile.
They parked outside Lenny’s Bagels and called 911 and waited for an ambulance. They left bloody clothing in the parking lot Boston Post Road and Pelhamdale Avenue in Pelham.
Law enforcement said Garcia tossed the knife, which police recovered from the scene of the stabbing on Tuesday evening. Police also said that the accused was thought to have been with Julian Garcia, his son, and Joshua Romero, his nephew, at the time of the stabbing, according to New York Daily News.
Sierra was pronounced dead at Jacobi Medical Center, which is where he was transported after Medics treated him at the scene of the stabbing incident, according to NYPD. Garcia who was accompanied by his attorney when he turned himself into police, has three previous arrests. He has been charged with criminal possession of a weapon, manslaughter, and second-degree murder. He is being held without bail.
