Abel Cedeno, a 19-year-old gay man charged in the 2017 fatal stabbing of classmate Matthew McCree and wounding of McCree’s friend, Ariane LaBoy, was convicted on July 15 of manslaughter in the first degree in McCree’s death, as well as first-degree assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
On the stand last week in his own defense, Cedeno, who had endured bullyin for years in school and had unsuccessfully sought a transfer, testified that he carried the knife to protect himself in a school where weapons were common and that he stabbed McCree, who charged across the classroom at him, out of fear for his life.
Prosecutor Nancy Borko, in her closing argument, argued that Cedeno brought the knife to school “bent on creating an opportunity to use” the weapon to “prove that he’s not a pussy… to prove that he’s tough.”
Cedeno, who had been out on bail since shortly after his arrest in September 2017, was remanded to Rikers Island, pending sentencing on September 10.
Andy Humm will provide full coverage of these dramatic developments later today on this site.
