FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 7, 2016
Brighton Beach Man Sentenced to 23 Years to Life for
Fatal Stabbing of Brooklyn Man
Victim Attempted to Flee; Incident Caught on Surveillance Video
Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 26-year-old Brooklyn man was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison for stabbing a man in the chest following an argument in Brighton Beach.
Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said, “Rather than walk away from a fight, this defendant instead chased after the victim and fatally stabbed him in the chest. He will now spend many years behind bars as a consequence of his actions.”
The Acting District Attorney identified the defendant as Jonathan Mansilla, 26, of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Vincent DelGuidice to 23 years to life in prison. He was convicted of second-degree murder following a jury trial last month.
The Acting District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, on June 27, 2014, at approximately 2:20 a.m., the defendant engaged the victim, Alberto Munive-Torres, 27, in a physical altercation at the intersection of Brighton 5th Street and Brighton Beach Avenue. The victim then rode away on his bicycle in an effort to remove himself from the defendant. The defendant chased the victim on foot and retrieved a knife from his waistband before reaching around the victim, from behind, and stabbing him once in the chest.
The victim eventually collapsed, falling from his bicycle to the ground. The defendant then proceeded to kick the victim repeatedly about the head and face. Surveillance footage from surrounding buildings captured the incident.
The defendant was apprehended a few blocks away approximately 20 minutes later and found with blood stains on his shirt. The blood on the defendant’s shirt was later determined to be Munive-Torres’, according to trial testimony. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York determined the victim’s cause of death to be a single stab wound to the right chest.
The case was investigated by Detective Mitchell Eisenberg of the New York City Police Department’s 60th Precinct and Detective James McCafferty of the Brooklyn South Homicide Squad.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Olatokunbo Olaniyan of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Akosua Goode of the District Attorney’s School Advocacy Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Taub, Homicide Bureau Chief.
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