Kenwood Allen, of the Bronx, Charged with Murder in One of the Gay Killings at Bars
Kenwood Allen, of the Bronx, Arrested, Accused of the killing of one and possible others. Your Right.
On Your left Nurbu Sherpa, a 29-year-old chef, was found dead on the sidewalk. Kenwood is charge with his murder.
Multiple people have been fatally poisoned with narcotics in New York City in what investigators say are schemes by criminal crews to incapacitate and rob people at bars and nightclubs
NEW YORK -- Multiple people have been fatally poisoned with narcotics in what investigators say were schemes by criminal crews to incapacitate and rob people at New York City bars and nightclubs.
The killings — at least five, according to police — stretch back months and appear to be the work of different crews, operating independently from each other but using similar tactics, police and prosecutors said Thursday.
Men surreptitiously slip revelers dangerous levels of drugs to knock them out, then take their wallets and phones, sometimes using their digital banking info to drain their accounts.
In March, Nurbu Sherpa, a 29-year-old chef, was found dead on the sidewalk after leaving a bar where he had been celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.
In April, Julio Ramirez, a 25-year-old social worker, died in a taxi after leaving a Manhattan bar with a group of men. Later, relatives discovered some of his savings had been stolen.
In May, John Umberger, a 33-year-old political consultant visiting from Washington D.C., was found dead of an apparent drug overdose in the townhouse where he was staying. Surveillance video showed him leaving a popular club and being propped up by a group of men. Money was also taken from his bank account.
Other men have come forward with stories about being drugged by strangers and waking up to find money gone.
Many of the crimes remain unsolved, but the Manhattan district attorney on Thursday announced that one suspect, Kenwood Allen, of the Bronx, had been charged with murder in Sherpa’s death and in the killing of Ardijan Berisha, 26.
Berisha, of South Salem, New York, and a friend passed out on the sidewalk in July after drinking at a bar on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
Allen drugged both of his victims with fentanyl, prosecutors said, then robbed them. He is accused in three other instances where victims survived.
Allen’s sister told the Daily News her brother is innocent.
“My brother is not a murderer,” said Lauren Allen, 39. “My brother has always taken care of his family, his mother, and his sisters. He’s not in no gang. He’s not in some crew going around drugging and robbing people. That’s just not true, that’s ridiculous.”
Nobody has been charged in the other killings, which are still under investigation.
“Nobody should have to worry that a night out at a Manhattan bar with friends could end in tragedy,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.
At a news conference Thursday, New York Police Department Lt. Det. Dave Leonardi said some of the victims were given a mix of drugs including lidocaine, fentanyl, and cocaine, with lidocaine being the substance that really incapacitated people.
The deaths of Ramirez and Umberger prompted concern that gay men were being targeted. Both died after leaving Manhattan LGBTQ bars. Some victims and their relatives have complained that the crimes weren't treated with more urgency by the police.
Umberger's mother, Linda Clary of Dawsonville, Georgia, said that after hearing about Ramirez's death and stories from others, she felt frustrated by authorities' response.
“There were enough cases reported that NYPD should have sounded the warning bells to say this is going on, people need to be careful, but they didn't," she said.
NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said robberies have occurred beyond the gay community.
“We don’t particularly think they’re targeting gay members,” he said. “This is based solely on monetary gain.”
Still, unease about possible targeting remains especially in an environment where an anti-LGBTQ atmosphere has been felt around the country, said Beverly Tillary, executive director of the New York City Anti-Violence Project, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ communities.
“There’s some sense of being on edge,” she said, “and not knowing what might happen next in terms of attacks on our community.”
Conclusion by Adam: This case is so sad. Yes because of the young victims but more so because it did not have to be. The question is how many gays does it take for the police to catch only one suspect and there are more than one, and they are on tape and there most be some witnesess. Maybe not selfies but we know what the police when gets interested in a case would do with just part of a face or the general look of a suspect. But when it involves gays, somehow it slows the thing down. The police is not a machine. It is an organization made of human beings
The cops just humans with their opinions and interests based on justice we hope but if you read the papers or have contact with some of them you might come out dissapointed. I most say the police in the Bronx gets a higher mark than in other boroughs like Staten Island on their hard work. This investigation was being handle by the Manhattan's DA.
At keast this suspect is from the Bronx and the Bronx DA is handleling part of the investigation now. Now for political reasons the Head of NYPD detectives is saying this does not seem gay inspired but it was just robberies. Robberies of whom? Gays With drugs that killed? Gays using at least one young with compatible looks to gays? Gays. I think gays were the target. Young, friendly and sometimes willing to give somene a cab ride or go home with a trick particularly if drugged. That means they were targeting gays in my book. But not for the police, no wonder the investigtion is taking for ever.
The police Believe there are 5 dead victims. But that depends when this guys starting the robberies. There some that were lucky to wake up. Not the 5.
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