A 14-year-old Bronx student was stabbed to death, allegedly by a classmate, outside their middle school Wednesday, police said.
Timothy Crump was stabbed multiple times at about 3 p.m., shortly after IS 117 let out for the day in the Mount Hope section, police said. The alleged stabber, 14-year-old Noel Estevez, was charged late Wednesday night with second degree murder and second degree manslaughter, police said.
The two had a disagreement, police said, but it was not immediately clear why Noel allegedly stabbed Timothy. Several classmates of the boys said they may have argued about a cellphone.
Timothy was taken to Bronx-Lebanon Hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Neighbors said he lived with his mother and had an older brother.
A knife was recovered outside the school, said Department of Education spokeswoman Marge Feinberg.
Classmate Chailyn Oballe, 12, was leaving school when she saw a group huddling in a corner shortly after the attack.
“And that’s when I saw the boy with the knife,” Chailyn said. “He looked like he was about to stab somebody else and then he put the knife in his pocket and covered it with his shirt.”
People started to run away, several students said, screaming “someone has a knife.”
Chailyn — who was given permission by her mother to speak with amNewYork — said a security guard then approached the alleged stabber.
“I was shaken,” Chailyn said.
A few hours after the attack, police tape still blocked off the entire street in front of the school.
Several nearby residents and children leaving afterschool programs gathered at the end of the block, talking about what happened earlier.
Those who knew Timothy remembered him as a sweet but shy child who would help anyone who asked for assistance.
“Timothy was a quiet person. He wasn’t no bully, he wasn’t no troublemaker,” said Tyrone Rivers, a neighbor who used to coach Timothy in sports in the neighborhood. “He was a nice person.”
Rivers said Timothy would help other kids in the neighborhood.
“For someone to take a life like that,” Rivers said, shaking his head in disbelief.
Next-door neighbor Vincent Rosario said Timothy was always with his mother.
“He was a good kid, a humble kid,” Rosario said.
