A 24-year-old man from Oklahoma allegedly stumbled into New York City, visited a guy he met on a dating app, killed him, and blew the slain man’s money all over the city, according to news reports and court documents from the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
Alex Ray Scott was busted on January 29 and hit with a second-degree murder charge for killing a man in an apartment the night before at 120 East 83rd Street between Park and Lexington Avenues in Manhattan — and he apparently hasn’t been shy about admitting to it.
“I think I may have killed someone last night,” Scott told Detective Roman Ilustre, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Gay City News.
Multiple news reports say the man Scott killed was 64-year-old antiques dealer Kenneth Savinski, though a spokesperson for the Manhattan DA’s office wouldn’t confirm the victim’s name. The New York Post reported that the pair met on a dating app, and The New York Times reported, citing the Manhattan DA’s office, that the two met at Savinski’s home for a “romantic liaison.”
It appears Scott arrived in New York City facing serious legal trouble. It is widely reported that court documents in Tulsa County show he allegedly faced charges in September of 2018 for molesting a five-year-old boy. The Times reported that Scott fled the state when detectives were seeking to interview him, and authorities finally spotted him weeks later in Montauk.
He told cops, according to The Times, that he intended to drive to New York to commit suicide, so he was sent to a psychiatric hospital on Long Island. He was later returned to Oklahoma and made to wear an ankle monitor before facing trial, which was not scheduled until June of this year. But he went on to ditch the ankle monitor in another bid to flee the area.
He returned to New York and ignored required pre-trial court appearances, prompting a judge in Oklahoma to put out a warrant for his arrest in January.
The criminal complaint noted that Scott and Savinski were seen entering Savinski’s apartment at around 11:30 p.m. on January 28. Scott left two hours later wearing Savinski’s clothing, according to surveillance video footage. He was also seen counting cash as he was leaving. The next evening, he returned to the apartment but bolted the scene when he spotted cops nearby, according to The Times.
Cops who arrived at Savinski’s apartment on the afternoon of January 29 said the victim was found face down with a head wound and blood splattered around the apartment. He was subsequently pronounced dead.
“I observed that the decedent had large and deep lacerations across his throat and across his face, and that there were broken pieces of several sharp objects near the body, and pieces of those objects in the wounds,” Detective Ilustre noted.
The complaint stated that on January 30 at 9 a.m., Scott entered the Midtown North precinct — with cuts on his finger and hand — to turn himself in. It was then, police say, that he admitted to the murder and stated that he had the victim’s driver’s license and three of his credit cards.
Little has been reported about Savinksi. The New York Times wrote that he most recently worked with an antiques dealer known as Nesle Incorporated. Emails to Nesle were not immediately returned. Savinski was also known to visit family in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and previously ran a business on Maryland’s eastern shore. He did not appear to have a presence on social media.
Scott’s attorney, Jessica Horani, declined comment for this story.
