Charlie Torres, a 37-year-old Highbridge man, was taken into custody Tuesday in connection with a January 2025 double shooting that left 17-year-old Andrew Mora dead and another teenager wounded outside a Bronx apartment building. Torres now faces charges of murder, manslaughter, and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, capping an investigation that stretched roughly 19 months before police made an arrest.
Torres is accused of carrying out the shooting in front of 1491 Macombs Road, just steps from his own home, on the evening of January 3, 2025, according to News12 Bronx. Police have not released a motive behind the attack, and the outlet's report does not detail what evidence ultimately led investigators to Torres nearly a year and a half later.
A Shooting Outside a 90-Unit Apartment Building
Officers responded to a 911 call reporting an assault in progress at approximately 5:45 p.m. that Friday, per the NYPD's account cited in the same report. Dispatch records reviewed separately by Police Blotter placed the call a few minutes later, around 5:48 p.m. Either way, officers arrived to find two wounded teenage boys in front of the building, a 90-unit residential complex within Bronx Community District 4, according to StreetEasy.
Paramedics transported both teens to St. Barnabas Hospital. Mora, a 17-year-old from Manhattan, suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and died at the hospital, while the second teenager, also 17, suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen and later recovered, according to police.
Mora had previously attended Media High School and PS 18 Park Terrace in Manhattan, according to the National Gun Violence Memorial, an online tribute site that also describes former educators and community members remembering him as a friendly and respectful student.
A 19-Month Search for Answers
The gap between the shooting and Tuesday's arrest spanned roughly 19 months, according to Crime Solvers Central, which tracked the case from the January 2025 shooting through Torres's arrest this week. No suspects were publicly identified in the days immediately following the shooting, per the same account.
Murder and Weapons Charges Carry Steep Penalties
If convicted, Torres could face some of the most serious penalties available under New York law. Second-degree murder under New York Penal Law § 125.25 is classified as a Class A-I felony, carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years to life in state prison. The weapons charges he faces under New York Penal Law § 265.03, for second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, constitute a Class C violent felony carrying a mandatory minimum of three and a half years and a maximum of 15 years in prison.
Youth Gun Violence Remains a Bronx Concern
The case lands amid a worrying local trend. As of late July 2026, the NYPD's 44th Precinct — which covers Highbridge and Mount Eden — had recorded 18 shootings so far this year, a 28.6% increase over the 14 shootings tallied during the same period in 2025, CBS News reported.
That local uptick stands in contrast to the citywide picture. According to NYPD statistics reported by Police1, homicides and shootings across New York City dropped to historic lows during the first five months of 2025, with May 2025 logging the lowest monthly shooting total since the department's CompStat tracking system began in 1994.
Bronx community advocates and local leaders have voiced ongoing concern over localized spikes in youth gun violence, according to Bronx Times, pointing to repeated incidents involving teenage victims across South Bronx precincts even as citywide numbers have improved.
