A Bronx teenager who fatally stabbed a classmate told police he was bullied and he feared for his life, the NY Post reports.
Timothy Crump, 14, (pictured right) died of a stab wound after he allegedly jumped classmate Noel Estevez, also 14, outside their Bronx school Wednesday.
Police say Crump jumped Estevez because he believed the teen stole his cellphone.
“The victim was definitely the aggressor,” a police source told the NY Post.
The two boys were former friends. But the stolen cell phone and an unpaid loan drove a wedge between them.
“The suspect had a beef with the victim,” another police source told the Post. “He stole the victim’s cellphone a few days ago. That’s what the beef was about. The victim was no angel either.”
Police say when Timothy jumped Noel he didn’t realize the boy was armed with a kitchen knife. “He brought the knife to school because he was afraid for his life,” a police source said.
Noel was described as an “emotionally fragile” teen who stayed away from school for months because he was afraid of Timothy.
Neighbors say a group of boys often showed up at the apartment where Noel lived with his mother. The boys reportedly harassed Noel and urinated on his apartment door.
“They would go inside the building and urinate in front of his door, they’d kick his door,” building employee Jorge Guerrero, 47, said Thursday morning.
“They come to his building screaming up at his window, ‘We’re going to catch you,’?” said neighbor Stephany Arroyo.
“Every day, they come.”
Noel was allegedly jumped by Timothy on his second day back at school.
Noel “came out of school and Timothy just cracked him in the head and then kneed his face,” said Saibo Sillah, who knew both boys. “Then Noel stabbed Timothy.”
As blood gushed from his wound, Timothy continued to fight until he collapsed and suffered a cardiac arrest. He was taken to Bronx Lebanon Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Timothy’s friend Tyrone Rivers described the moment Timothy’s mother heard the news of her son’s death.
“I could hear her crying. She kept saying, ‘They killed my son! They killed my son!'”
Noel’s supporters are rallying around him. “He was going through a lot of depression,” said family friend Marisol Perez. “Noel was bullied in school. He wouldn’t leave his house for three months.
“Yesterday was his first day back.”
Despite his claims of self defense, Noel was charged as an adult with murder.
