An Elmhurst man is being held without bail after he was criminally charged in the fatal stabbing of his neighbor on Sunday evening.
Rosendo Lopez, 35, of 40-38 Case St., was arraigned Aug. 5 in Queens Criminal Court on a complaint charging him with murder in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon a day after he was arrested and booked at the 110th Precinct for allegedly killing 46-year-old Lidio Castro-Cruz in the three-family home on Case Street.
Police responded to a 911 call of a man in need of medical attention at 40-38 Case St. just before 6 p.m. after a neighbor from a first-floor apartment found Castro-Cruz face down on a stairwell in the basement. Upon arrival, officers found Castro-Cruz with a stab wound to the chest.
EMS responded to the location a block south of Roosevelt Avenue and rushed the victim to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short while later, according to the NYPD.
Lopez was taken into custody as a person of interest based on conversations with witnesses at the scene of the crime. After statements and admissions made by Lopez during questioning by homicide detectives at the 110th Precinct, it was determined that he had plunged a knife into the upper torso of Castro-Cruz, causing his death, according to the criminal complaint. He was placed under arrest on Monday evening.
Lopez was arraigned before Queens Criminal Court Judge Marty Lenz on Tuesday night and remanded into custody without bail.
