A local man was shot dead on Thursday evening inside of Williamsbridge Oval Park, apparently after a dispute involving an iPhone.
Police identified the victim as Diego Sinchi, a 28-year-old, Hispanic male, of 345 East 209th Street, which is just two blocks from the park. At about 10:30 p.m. last night, Sinchi was found shot multiple times in the torso. He was later pronounced dead on arrival at Montefiore Medical Center.
Blood from the shooting was still visible on Friday morning as family members lit candles at a makeshift vigil just inside the north entrance to the park, where the murder occurred.
Sinchi was allegedly involved in a dispute over an iPhone with an unidentified male just after dark last night. The apparent dispute, which became physical, ended in gunfire, according to Resso Santiago, a local resident who spoke to NYPD detectives that were investigating the murder earlier Friday morning.
“My son has an iPhone,” said Santiago. “I don’t want him to get killed over his phone. I can not feel safe with my family around here any longer.”
As park crews began covering the bloody cobblestones with mulch in Oval Park Friday morning, family members had already began gathering around a vigil of candles and prayer cards.
As of Friday morning there have been no arrests made and a police investigation is ongoing.
[Update: According to Norwood News archives, Thursday night’s murder was the first in Williamsbridge Oval Park since 2002, when a NYC bus driver was bludgeoned to death with a tree branch.]