Cops Make Arrest in Fatal Stabbing Over School Flap

Possible Case of Mistaken Identity Turns Deadly 

Juan Martinez was stabbed to death during what family members called a case of mistaken identity. An arrest has been made in the murder. -Handout

By Dan Gesslein 

Bronx Voice

September 27, 2023

BRONX - Cops have arrested a suspect in the fatal arrest of a Bronx man in what news reports claim to be a case of mistaken identity.

Police arrested 36-year-old Bryant Gonzalez and charged him with murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon. Gonzalez was charged in the death of 44-year-old Juan Martinez.

At around 5:30 pm on September 12, police responded to a call in front of an apartment building in Kingsbridge. Cops found Martinez in front of 130 West 228th Street with multiple stab wounds throughout his body.

Martinez was rushed to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital where he was pronounced deceased.

According to the NY Daily News, Martinez was killed in a case of mistaken identity. Martinez’s father told the paper that Gonzalez attacked his son because he thought the victim assaulted his son. The father claims Gonzalez told Martinez that he “hurt” his son at John F. Kennedy High School. 

Martinez insisted he had nothing to do with it but Gonzalez stabbed him anyway.