Three suspects wanted in connection with the murder of a man in a Bronx subway car have been arrested.
Justin Herde, 24, Betty Cotto, 38, and Alfredo Trinidad, 42, were brought in for police questioning shortly before noon Monday.
The three suspects, described as “transients” by authorities, are accused of fatally attacking William Alvarez, 45, shortly after 5 a.m. Friday on a southbound D train.
Members of the U.S. Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force tracked the suspects to an apartment on Villa Avenue.
Authorities said Trinidad was arrested while he was with his girlfriend and brother. He had a gun in his possession when he was arrested.
Three suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder of Bronx man William Alvarez, 45, who was attacked in a subway car.
The suspects have been named as Betty Cotto, 38; Justin Herde, 24; and Alfredo Trinidad, 42
Alvarez was sitting on the train Friday morning when the suspects boarded at the Fordham Road station. One of the men sat next to the 45-year-old and the duo exchanged words before beginning to argue.
All three suspects have prior arrests, according to the New York City Police Department. Cotto was arrested for theft in 2006, Trinidad for fare evasion in 2012, and Herde for misdemeanor assault in 2021.
The morning of the fatal attack, Alvarez was sitting on the train when the suspects boarded at the Fordham Road station.
One of the men sat next to the 45-year-old and the duo exchanged words before beginning to argue.
Alvarez was then surrounded by the other suspects and suffered a fatal wound to the torso. DailyMail.com contacted the medical examiner’s office for more information about the nature of his injuries.
“While they were physically fighting each other, the other two…joined the fight,” NYPD Traffic Chief Michael Kemper said, describing the altercation as “three on one.”
The train stopped at a Grand Concourse station and the suspects fled. When police found Alvarez, he was unconscious.
The man was pronounced dead at St. Barnabas Hospital.
He was raised in the Bronx by parents from the Dominican Republic, but his family had not seen him in months as he fell into the throes of drug addiction.
“These cowards took my son, my only son, from me,” mother Anna Vazquez, 63, told the New York Daily News. “I’m holding on.”
As the fight escalated, Alvarez was surrounded by the other suspects and suffered a fatal injury to his torso. He was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead.
The 45-year-old was struggling with drug addiction at the time of his death. He leaves behind a son and a daughter
The Bronx man had a checkered criminal past that included several previous arrests for robbery and drug offenses.
He was added to the sex offender registry for raping a 13-year-old girl in 1997, when he was 19.
Álvarez was last released from prison in May 2018, and his relatives say he was rebuilding his life when the tragedy occurred.
“He was fighting his demons,” Vazquez said. “I was trying to change his life and, I’m sorry to say, this tragedy on the D train, they took my son.”
Álvarez leaves behind a 21-year-old son and a 26-year-old daughter, whom he shares with his ex-wife.
His death is the latest fallout from violence on the New York City subway.
On February 12, the shooting spread to the platform of the Mt. Eden Avenue subway station in the Bronx, injuring five and killing a 35-year-old man.