THE BRONX — A man was arrested in connection to the fatal stabbing of another man outside a Longwood apartment building in what police believe was a gang-related drug dispute, officials said.
Matthew Rivera, 28, was with a second suspect when he punched Richard Romano, 41, and pushed him off of a bicycle outside 906 Simpson St., near Fox Street, about 10 p.m. May 27, according to the Bronx District Attorney.
The second suspect, who had not been arrested as of Monday morning, stabbed Romano twice in the torso with a kitchen knife while Rivera was attacking him, police and prosecutors said.
The second suspect hadn't been arrested as of Monday morning, police said.
Romano, of Morris Heights, was pronounced dead at Lincoln Medical Center, police said.
Investigators believe the stabbing is gang-related and stem from a drug dispute, an NYPD spokesman said.
Rivera had been stabbed 10 days before the homicide and didn't cooperate with investigators looking into that assault, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce.
A witness to the homicide gave investigators some information that led them to Rivera, police said.
Rivera, who lived at the Simpson Street building where he killed Romano, was arrested Sunday on charges of manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.
He has been arraigned and was ordered held without bail, and he is due back in court on May 6, according to the Bronx District Attorney's Office.
Rivera was arrested in 2010 and 2015, but the records are sealed, a police spokesman said.
