The brutal murder of New York City teen Winston Ortiz suggests violent crime may be increasing around the country, CrimeOnline’s Nancy Grace told Fox News.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, 18-year-old Winston Ortiz was stabbed multiple times and then set on fire in an apartment building on Wednesday.
Authorities have charged 22-year-old Adones Betances with murder and manslaughter in connection with Ortiz’s death.
Nancy Grace told Fox Nation host Dana Perino why she finds Ortiz’s murder so disturbing.
“You know, he had already survived a brain aneurysm and he had a second lease on life, even at this tender age,” Grace told Perino.
“He was very shy, very quiet, a real churchgoer, close to family. And he was very despondent. His first real girlfriend had broken up with him. Then he gets a call for him to come over and see her. [He] bounded out [of] the apartment, raced over. He was met in the hallway, stabbed multiple times in the torso, then set on fire to die.”
Betances was reportedly upset about a four-year age difference between Ortiz and his sister, whom Ortiz had been dating, according to the New York Post.
Neighbors told the Post that Ortiz had recently graduated high school and had never been in trouble.
“This in itself is horrific, but it is an example of lawlessness taking over our country,” Grace told Perino. “I prosecuted for a decade in inner-city Atlanta . . . one of the murder capitals of the world, when drug murders were out of control. I’m really worried we’re going back to that now.”
Grace suggested one way to address the lawlessness is to “get rid of bond reform where you can’t keep a perp behind bars.”
“And number two, get real,” Grace said.
Grace questioned a claim by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortiz, D-N.Y., who asserted that the recent uptick in New York City crime is because of people shoplifting to feed their families.
“For somebody like AOC to suggest that these crimes are because people are trying to feed themselves, kind of like [Les Miserables] but in New York . . . that’s crazy talk,” Grace told Perino. “That’s not what’s happening here. And these are quality of life crimes where people can shoot up on the street or urinate . . . It just leads to a snowball effect. And defunding the police is . . . the antithesis of what we need.”
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast. Here is a related episode.
[Feature Photo: Roland and Donna Grabowski/Police Handout]
