Manhattan's District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. announced today the indictment of Darnell Jackson, 39, for a grim New Year's Day crime that took a life in Harlem. According to a statement from the D.A.'s office, Jackson faces a second-degree murder charge and a criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, as reported by the Manhattan DA's website. "We allege that Darnell Jackson, without any provocation, brutally slashed a 72-year-old man on the street," said District Attorney Bragg in the statement.
As was briefly stepping into a deli and out again, the incident took place in the early morning of January 1, on the corner of West 137th Street and Lenox Avenue, involving the victim, Alfredo Cortes, a 72-year-old using a cane. With no notice taken by the victim of Jackson, who was conversing with others outside the deli, a tragedy unfolded when Jackson, following a few words in his direction, struck the elderly man down and slashed his neck, leaving a devastating 12-inch wound, court documents outlined.
Cortes had managed to get up and stagger back towards the deli, only to collapse. His injury was fatal; he succumbed at Harlem Hospital. Merely an hour later, in a somber conclusion to the events, Jackson turned himself in at the 26th precinct, effectively sealing the narrative set in motion earlier that day, as told by the D.A.'s statement.
Assistant D.A. Jean Prisco will be leading the prosecution, operating under the supervision of Deputy Chief of the Trial Division Chris Prevost and Executive Assistant D.A. Lisa DelPizzo, Chief of the Trial Division. As the wheels of justice begin their steady turn, Darnell Jackson is expected to face the full weight of the law, with Harlem as a backdrop for a community grieving one of its own, lost unexpectedly on what should have been a fresh start to the year.
