Jury Found Defendant Guilty of First-Degree Manslaughter
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx man has been
sentenced to 25 years in prison for fatally stabbing his friend in 2016.
District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant killed his friend, a father of one, by
stabbing him on a crowded street. I hope the sentence imposed today brings some peace to
the victim’s family, especially the victim’s mother who took the stand during the trial and
recounted the most difficult experience a mom can go through: hearing of her son’s death and
identifying his body.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Eric Ortiz, 57, of 2295 Grand Concourse, was
sentenced today to 25 years in prison and five years post-release supervision by Bronx Supreme
Court Justice Michael Gross. A jury found the defendant guilty of first-degree Manslaughter
on March 22, 2019.
According to the investigation, at about 8 p.m. on March 1, 2016, in front of a cellular
phone store the defendant worked in located at 332 East Fordham Road, the defendant was
fighting with an individual. The victim, Christopher Cabrera, 27, who was friends with Ortiz,
attempted to calm the defendant down. Ortiz became angry with the victim and stabbed him with
a sharp object in the liver. Cabrera was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital and was pronounced dead
about two hours after the incident.
District Attorney Clark thanked Assistant District Attorney Paul Rosenfeld of the
Homicide Bureau and NYPD Detective Michael Fassert of the 46th Precinct for their assistance
in the investigation.
