Two men have been arrested in connection with the horrific fatal stabbing of a 56-year-old fruit vendor and father of three in the Bronx earlier this month, police said.
According to police, on September 12 around 7:30 p.m., Romel Jarrett, 37, and Terrence Downes, 44, attacked salesman Leslie Sanchez. During the relentless beating, Sanchez’s injuries were so severe that his face was “almost unrecognizable,” his wife said in an interview with News12 at the time.
Police say Jarrett and Downes first tried to rob Sanchez near East Fordham Rd. and Grand Concourse, but when Sanchez resisted, the pair repeatedly struck him with a metal baseball bat, hitting him in the back of the head.
The beloved father of three died two days later, police said. The chief medical examiner’s office classified his death as a homicide.
According to police, officers arrested Jarrett and Downes the day before Sanchez died, charging them with attempted murder and first-degree assault. The charges against the couple have since been upgraded to murder, officers said.
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