By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — Two men accused of killing a Washington Heights bouncer were indicted Monday on murder and manslaughter charges.
Jonathan Gonzales-Alvarez, 21, and Luis Almanzar, 30, pleaded not guilty to charges that they stabbed Arsene Epouta, 29, to death outside popular Dominican nightspot La Casa del Mofongo on Oct. 27.
Gonzales-Alvarez and Amanazar had been patrons at the St. Nicholas Avenue nightclub and restaurant, but were thrown out by Epouta after an incident with a karaoke waitress, one of the men's lawyers said.
Once the men were outside, Gonzales-Alvarez alllegedly threw a punch at the bouncer before stabbing him, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors have reduced the top charge against Almanzar to manslaughter because they said they could not clearly discern if he stabbed the bouncer in video surveillance.
Almanzar's attorney, Lauriano Guzman, argued that after initially brawling with Epouta, his client actually tried to break up the rumble between the bouncer and Gonzales-Alvarez.
He said Almanzar threw punches at the security guard, but the fatal stab wounds came from the other defendant, who was partying with Almanzar that night.
"I understand the bouncer is dead. That's a fact I cannot change," Guzman said. "But my client is not in fact the one who killed this man."
The judge denied bail to both defendants, who will remain behind bars.
Epouta's family turned up to court wearing matching T-shirts with a photo of the Gabonese father and his two young sons, Alan, 7, and Jalain, 16 months.
