Who was Nathaniel Rivers? Bronx man, 35, stabbed to death by schizophrenic neighbor in unprovoked attack
THE BRONX, NEW YORK CITY: A 35-year-old man was fatally stabbed in front of his wife in the Bronx on Thursday, July 21, in what police are calling an unprovoked attack. According to police and neighbors, Nathaniel Rivers, 35, had just parked his car at East 205 Street and Decatur Avenue in Norwood around 1.15 pm, when 19-year-old Franklin Mesa approached him and began exchanging words with him.
Mesa then allegedly stabbed Rivers in the chest with a knife, killing the well-liked father of one. Rivers was in his car with his wife when Mesa approached, and after a brief exchange of words, Mesa stabbed Rivers through the window of his car as the victim was exiting, according to police. Rivers' wife jumped out, grabbed a pry bar, and began hitting the suspect, but her efforts to save her husband were futile. St Barnabas Hospital pronounced the victim dead, The New York Post reported. According to the authorities, Mesa is schizophrenic.
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“He best person in the world,” said a 50-year-old neighbor who gave her name as Sunshine. “He would give you the shirt off his back. Whatever you needed he would help you with. He was that kind of a person," NY Post reported. According to the police, after stabbing Rivers', Mesa managed to flee, leaving his victim gravely injured.
Mesa, who lives just down the street, was arrested and charged with murder, manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon, according to cops. Mesa was arrested for misdemeanor assault in April 2021 for punching someone twice in the face, cops said, but the remainder of his interactions appear to have resulted in mental health treatment.