FATAL STABBING AT KEY FOOD ON LOWER EAST SIDE

By AL BAKER

Published in: The New York Times, City Room, February 29, 2008, 4:40 PM

Updated, March 1 | Two female workers, ages 24 and 27, were stabbed — one fatally — inside a Key Food grocery store on the Lower East Side this afternoon, by a man who then fled and is still at large, the police said. The suspect, later identified as James Gonzalez, 42, ran from the store after the attack and apparently dropped the knife outside, near Avenue A and East Fourth Street, the police said.

The 24-year-old, later identified as Tina Negron, was stabbed in the torso. At 5:45 p.m. she was confirmed to have died from her injuries at Beth Israel Hospital, where both women were taken for treatment.

The second woman, a bookkeeper who was not immediately identified, was stabbed in the torso and leg, and was listed in serious condition, the police said.

Other store employees identified Mr. Gonzalez as the attacker.
The police said Mr. Gonzalez now had a beard and wore a green jacket of some type with the words “Canada Dry.” They said he had been angry that Ms. Negron had broken off a romantic relationship.

The police said the violence unfolded in a managers’ area in the store, possibly near a booth where managers congregate and from which they can watch over the entire store. The man apparently went to that area, where both women employees were attacked, then ran out, the police said.

Comment by Clayton Patterson, March 3, 2008, 11:00 PM

It is a sad day in the neighborhood. Elsa and I send our condolences to Tina Negron’s family, friends, and fellow workers. We only recognized Ms. Negron who was murdered as a teller, but Elsa and I were more familiar with Rashida Andradas who survived. The survivor is a hero for trying to help her fellow worker. She was more than a hero, on the job she was a most pleasant, thoughtful and wonderful human-being. May she get better mentally and physically. In fact she was Elsa was so impressed with her as a person that she photographed this lady. My hope is that this criminal, James Gonzalez, who did this brutal act, is soon apprehended.
thanks
Clayton Patterson

BTW- The reporters Al Baker, and Colin Moynihan, Stancey Stowe, Matthew Sweeney did a good job helping us understand what happened on this dreadful day.

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