NYPD: 14-year-old girl arrested for murder in attempted scooter theft gone wrong

A 14-year-old girl has been arrested and charged with murder in what police said Thursday was a robbery gone wrong.

According to the NYPD, the teen was with a group of four others attempting to steal a scooter from the corner of East 170th Street and Morris Avenue around 7 a.m. on Tuesday.

When an alarm on the scooter went off, someone from a nearby building came out to stop the thieves, police said. A physical fight ensued, and the teen allegedly stabbed 35-year-old Jose Valarezo in the groin. Police said Valarezo was part of the group trying to steal the scooter but his loved ones, reached by Gothamist, said that was unlikely.

“I think the story that’s out is completely wrong,” said Sheila Valarezo, the victim's younger sister. “I know my brother – it doesn’t sound like him.”

Sheila said her brother, a father of two, was always the type to break up fights, not start them.

Valarezo’s girlfriend Kyla Langois said the same.

“I think he would've been one of the ones to be like, ‘Yo, what are you doing? Get away from there, you're gonna get in trouble,’” she said. “And they didn't like that. So they started a fight.”

The teen denied the charges saying it was another person in her group who did the stabbing, according to the criminal complaint, and that she simply provided a change of clothing for the others "because they said the police would be after them." She was arraigned on two charges of second-degree murder, a charge of manslaughter along with several robbery charges and was let go on supervised release Thursday, authorities said.

Langois had last spoken to Valarezo on Monday night, and said they were having an argument. She wasn’t exactly sure where he was heading when he was killed, but disagreed with the police's claims that Valarezo was stabbed accidentally or that he was in league with the accused scooter thieves.

“I know that he did not know these people from a hole in the wall,” she said of the suspects.

The teen girl now faces a slew of charges, including murder, manslaughter, grand larceny and criminal weapons possession. Her name has not been released because she is a minor.

Police are still looking for the three other people involved in the incident.

Bodega worker Socrates Soto Hatton was on shift across the street Tuesday morning, and said he saw Valarezo collapse before the ambulance arrived.

“The ambulance came, and they cordoned off the whole area,” he said in Spanish.

He said he saw those whom he believed to be the suspects walking west on East 170th Street.

Soto Hatton said he’s been in the Concourse Village neighborhood for four years, and has seen his fair share of violent incidents.

“They’ve killed various people around here… but this summer was quiet. And the police are now patrolling on foot,” he said. "Before they didn’t, but as of about a month ago, they’re walking around the area. It helps a little bit.”

Robberies in the 44th Precinct, which includes Concourse Village, are down 22% year to date, according to the NYPD. Murder is down 27% from last year.

Langois said her partner was a good father to his two young children, who have another mother, as well as Langois’ own children from another relationship.

“That was the love of my life. And I was the love of his,” she said.

This story has been updated with new information on the teenager's arraignment, including her denial of the accusations.