NEW YORK CITY: Man Stabbed To Death After Allegedly Blowing A Kiss To His Killer

New York City police have arrested a 22 year-old man who says he stabbed another man to death on a Queens street because the victim blew him a kiss. The New York Post reports:

Steven Torres, 22, of the Bronx, went berserk and stabbed 69-year-old Ever Orozco in the throat and chest, on 90th Street in Elmhurst around 1 p.m., police said. Witnesses said the knife was nearly eight inches long. The crazed assailant ran several blocks to Roosevelt and Elmhurst Avenue where a plain-clothes cop grabbed him, witnesses said. The two men did not know each other and Torres told cops he attacked the senior citizen because he had blown kisses in his direction, sources said. Torres was charged with murder as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon, according to police.

ABC New York has more:

The attack happened Monday afternoon on a sidewalk near the entrance to the 90th Street-Elmhurst Avenue station. Police say Torres tried to run from the scene before they apprehended him. Torres reportedly struggled against his cuffs minutes after the brutal crime that left eyewitnesses speechless. "I really don't know what to think," witness Julio Lobaton said. "I'm just shaken because what happen to this poor guy...He was screaming, 'Help me help me.' I tried to intervene, but then he pulled a knife and started stabbing the guy on the floor. Then he went up about three steps came back."

Bystanders chased Torres until the police captured him. Witnesses told the press that he was laughing during the arrest. Police reports do not yet indicate if the victim was gay.

UPDATE: The New York City Anti-Violence Project has issued a statement which includes an important revelation.

We rarely see multiple anti-LGBT homicides in New York City in one year,” said Sharon Stapel, Executive Director of AVP. “Since May, we have seen homicides in the West Village, Harlem and Jackson Heights and we know that any neighborhood in New York City can be impacted by anti-LGBT violence. We are extremely concerned about this disturbing trend of violence against our communities.”

According to the NYPD, Torres has also been charged with the stabbing of a second man, which occurred on September 12th inside 9 Stanton Street near Bowery, because, reportedly, Torres believed that a 47 year old unidentified man was making sexual advances toward him. The second man survived the injuries.

AVP is reaching out to Make the Road NY and other community based partners, the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force and the Queens District Attorney’s Office’s, which are currently investigating this incident, and Council Members Danny Dromm and Jimmy Van Bramer.  AVP will be organizing a Community Safety Night for Friday, September 20, 2013 in Jackson Height, Queens.

UPDATE II: DNAinfo has more on the first attack.

Torres has also been charged with the Sept. 12 non-fatal stabbing inside 9 Stanton St., near Bowery, during which he believed a 47-year-old man was making a pass at him, cops said. Torres plunged his knife into the victim's left arm about 1:30 p.m., police said. The victim, whose identity was not released, was treated at Bellevue Hospital, cops said. Torres has been charged with murder as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon, police said. He's also been charged with assault as a hate crime in connection to last week's stabbing.