Two migrants were stabbed, one fatally, in Lower Manhattan by a group of men who first asked if they spoke English, police say.
The two victims were approached by the trio of suspects at 182 Broadway just before 7:40 p.m.Thursday night .
Before the chaos, investigators say words were exchanged when one of the suspects asked the teens if they spoke English. When they replied 'no,' that's when things took a turn for the worse.
Police said the suspects punched and kicked the victims and then were stabbed.
Police said the victims fled on foot and entered the subway station at Fulton Street.
When officers arrived, they found two teenage victims with stab wounds.
A 17-year-old boy, identified as Yeremi Colino, lived at the Roosevelt Hotel, was stabbed in the chest and taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital, where he died.
The second victim, 18-year-old Alan Magalles Bello was stabbed in the left arm by a screw driver and taken to the same hospital, where he's expected to recover.
"I was with my friend yesterday, a group of people show up, like a gang, and they pull out a knife towards me and my friend," Bello said.
The NYPD said a knife was recovered at the scene.
Mayor Eric Adams said that the murder could be a hate crime if the investigation concludes "that they were stabbed for not speaking English."
This is the fourth murder to take place in the 1st Precinct so far this year, while no homicides took place in the same precinct throughout all of 2023.
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