NEW YORK — The knife-wielding fishmonger arrested for stabbing two brothers accused of attacking workers at a Manhattan store on Tuesday night is not charged with murder after the younger brother died, prosecutors said.
Market worker Junior Aquino Hernandez, 34, was charged with assault in an arraignment Thursday after an initial arrest in the murder of Malik Burrell, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said. Hernandez was charged with delivering the fatal blow to the 25-year-old and several critical stab wounds to his brother, Robert Burrell.
Chaos erupted at Harlem’s Fish Express around 9:30 p.m. when Robert Burrell, refusing to pay for his late-night bite, attempted to take his order of shrimp from the store after arguing with one of the workers, prosecutors said .
The worker caught up with Burrell at the market door and the two briefly scuffled, with the latter hitting the clerk in the head. Their fight reportedly continued outside for a few moments before Burrell left and the worker returned to the market.
Prosecutors said Burrell returned minutes later with his younger brother, Malik. The two men reportedly entered the store, past the counter and into a section of the market where three workers were standing, including the one who had previously fought with the Burrell brother.
A second fight breaks out, this time between the five men.
Malik would go after the worker who fought with his brother, beating him repeatedly. Hernandez tries to break up the fight, but is not immediately successful, prosecutors said.
Meanwhile, Robert supposedly picks up a chair and tries to throw it at a third employee, a cook who was holding a knife. That brother and the Burrell worker fight over the chair as Hernandez picks up the dropped knife and stabs Malik twice in the chest, prosecutors say.
The brothers make a move to leave the store when Hernandez allegedly attacked a second time, stabbing Robert three times in the hand and abdomen, causing one of his lungs to collapse.
Both brothers were rushed to a hospital in Harlem, where Robert needed emergency treatment and his brother eventually died from injuries sustained in the fight, prosecutors said.
The first employee was also hospitalized with multiple cuts, a broken tooth and required multiple scalp staples.
Pending a full investigation, prosecutors were not ready to press charges for murder against Hernandez in the death of Malik Burrell. The current assault charge against the market clerk relates to the second stabbing outside the store.
Information from Robert Burrell and Hernandez’s attorney was not immediately available.