Yesterday, 18 year old Abel Cedeno stabbed and killed a 15 year old classmate named Matthew McCree and injured a 16 year old named Ariane Laboy as well at a Bronx school, PS 67. A neighbor of mine in my old Bronx neighborhood used to work at this school. He is now retired in Florida.
The events that led to the stabbing are unclear. One story says that Cedeno slapped a girl and that the boy he stabbed defended her two weeks ago. The tension was still alive among them and boiled up to the stabbing. Another version says that the boys bullied and harassed Abel Cedeno because of his effeminate demeanor and Hispanic heritage. I am still trying to sort the facts out. In any event, the media is painting the tragedy as a gay victim of bullying who snapped. Cedeno is said to have been bullied by others since the start of the school year.
According to police, the two boys threw pencils at Cedeno during third period history class. They argued and Cedeno went to the bathroom. He returned and the pencils flew again at his direction. Cedeno was upset and said something to McCree. McCree stood up and walked to Cedeno and punched him. This then led to things getting physical with Cedeno pulling out a 3 inch switchblade and stabbing McCree in the chest, as well as, Laboy as he tried to intervene and defend his friend. Cedeno then calmly walked out into the hallway and handed the blade to a counselor and walked to the principal's office where he waited for police. Cedeno was arrested and told the police what happened. He was later arraigned and charged with murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, attempted manslaughter, assault and criminal possession of a weapon. Cedeno's mother is stuck in Puerto Rico due to Hurricane Maria and is not aware of her son's situation in the mainland. His brother has stood in as guardian.
Outside, parents were ready to riot pushing each other and upset with officials. They were not kept up to date on what was happening and were not given access to their children. PS 67 houses an elementary, middle school and high school. The setup for this school is a bit odd since usually bigger kids are kept away from smaller ones. Uneek Valentin, a parent of a student at the school stated to reporters that weeks before, a student brought a weapon to school. Calls to install metal detectors then were ignored, according to Valentin. Other parents are upset that it took this tragedy for the school to finally install metal detectors.
Abel Cedeno is said to have identified as bisexual, according to his close friends. Savannah Hornback, a family friend who is transsexual stated that Cendeo also struggled with mental illness. Hornback declined to be more specific. According to Hornback, Cedeno was a homebody. He loved video games and often remained at home. Hornback also claims that Cedeno's mother complained to school officials about the bullying that her son face. Her pleas went to deaf ears. The school took no action, according to Hornback.
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| Matthew McCree, 15 deceased |
PS 67 has a history of being an under performing school, according to Board of Education records. Parents have long complained about the mixing of younger students with older ones. They have also complained about the lack of security via metal detectors. Apparently, the school has also ignored complaints of bullying. One parent, Kayesha McIntosh, 32, told officials at the school that students were pulling the hair of her daughter. McIntosh claims that the school told her to change her daughter's hairstyle to that of a bun. Another parent and former PTA president, Jovanna Russell said that she took her daughter out of the elementary school after a high school student flashed his genitals to her at a stairwell. The school did nothing about the incident. Many wonder why Cedeno is 18 and still in high school with 15 and 16 year old classmates. Apparently, Cedeno did not have enough credits to graduate in June. He was held over.
The whole scenario is just tragic. I know the school well and walked by there so many times as a kid and now as a young adult. Nearby, is the parish of St. Thomas which welcomed me as an atheist into the Catholic Church. There is also Tremont Avenue, where I often shopped at for food, school supplies and toys as a kid. I did not attend PS 67, but remember it was used as a triage for victims of the "Happy Land" club fire. The bodies of those injured and deceased were brought to the school. The building has seen its share of tragedies. I cannot say that anyone in this recent tragedy was "right." Abel Cedeno was apparently bullied and is said to have snapped. Whether this is true or not is yet to be determined. We still need to see the evidence that support the alleged facts. In any case, we must analyze many things here. Schools are not doing enough against bullying and the safety of students. My own nephew has faced some incidents as well while in elementary school and now in middle school. While not as a grave as the case at PS 67, it is, nevertheless, troubling. School officials never take reports seriously. They excuse it as "kids being kids," "that is how society is," or just plainly ignore it. This is extremely troubling. The teacher's union has a big role in this nonchalance. Teachers are not allowed to get involved during a fight. In my day, teachers quickly got in the middle to separate students. Today, they just stand and watch while waiting for security to come.
If that is not bad enough, incidents of bullying witnessed by staff must be reported; however, many times they are not. Children are treated as cattle being rounded up. They are not "people," so to speak. This is sad indeed. While the public school is not perfect, in my day, it was much better. Those days are days gone bye. While there were fist fights here and there, it never escalated to anything involving weapons or death. Today, it is much different. I believe this has to do with the break down of the family. Kids grow up in single parent homes, some in absent parent home. What I mean by this is that the parent(s) is never around. Moreover, there is no moral instruction of children. Families are abandoning values and letting the media raise their kids. These ideas of stabbing, fighting, premarital sex, hedonism all come from the music and media kids are exposed to. We as Catholics must take back society. We must restore the values that America was known for. If we do not, we will continue to see these incidents at schools and elsewhere. When God is pushed out, the devil takes over.
Abel Cedeno is said to bisexual and suffering from mental illness. His instagram handle is "Abel_diviel." Is the "diviel" mean to be "devil?" I cannot say for sure, but we must leave the idea open. The LGBTQ have the highest rates of mental illness when compared with other social groups. The ideas of gender theory cause a lot of harm to our youth. They grow up confused and are mocked because of it. Imagine growing up in a world where you are trying to figure yourself out while the world tells you that you can be any gender you want. This causes anxiety and frustration. Children, especially teens, have trouble as is trying to "fit in" a circle, if you will. Cedeno is one of these kids who is obviously is a victim of the errors of the world. His victims are not far behind. Unfortunately, African Americans in the inner city are often raised to take on a "thug" demeanor in order to fit in. They need to have "street credit." This is just abuse. African Americans who choose an alternate take are labeled as traitors or "white imitators." McCree and Laboy were known as the "bad boys" of the school. We must ask why? Why were this way and why was it not weeded out of them? There are so many questions and few answers. No one here won. Cedeno did not win by killing one and injuring another. McCree and Laboy did not win by allegedly bullying and causing havoc in the school. We need to do more. Catholic Churches must have strong youth groups that help shape the consciences of young people in the inner city. Hopefully, the archdiocese of NY will work on this.
Let us pray for all involved. The situation is just tragic. Babies killing babies. We cannot have this in our world. Cedeno, McCree, Laboy and others deserve to live good childhoods, get a good education and move on to live productive lives. We cannot have schools where tribalism is the rule of law. I will continue to update this post as I learn more details.
UPDATE: October 2, 2017:
The surviving victim of Cedeno's rage, Ariane Laboy woke from a two-day coma at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx. He said that he was not really hungry, but asked for an eggroll after his family bought some Chinese takeout. He asked his dad if he could give the rest to his friend Matthew, apparently, believing Matthew was in another hospital room. Laboy's father then informed him that Matthew was deceased. Laboy was in shock and became speechless after asking that everyone leave him alone. Laboy's family plans to sue over the incident. Moreover, cops now say that the two teens did not bully Cedeno over his sexuality. Cedeno apparently stated that he got the wrong teens and that he did not even know who they were. This may possibly harm any attempt to present his defense as self-preservation or insanity. Another knife was found the day after the incident at the same school in the same classroom. A janitor found the knife under a radiator. Cops say the knife is unrelated to the attack perpetuated by Abel Cedeno.
UPDATE: November 29, 2017:
Abel Cedeno was just released on a $250,000 bond. The bond was raised by members of the LGBT community as well as Senator Ruben Diaz Jr who was an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage in New York. Cedeno issued a statement which read:
"I am grateful to the people who donated to my bond fund, which allowed my release, specifically, I thank the many gay men who generously donated. I promise you that your faith in me will never be betrayed. You are, in the words of Shakespeare, 'less than kin but more than kind.' You make me proud to be gay. This nightmare which occurred on 09-27-17 has torn apart three families. Finally, thank you to my two gay attorneys for your hard work, trust and faith."
He had pleaded not guilty to the charges placed against him: manslaughter and assault. The mother of the victim Matthew McCree who died Louna Dennis was not so happy. She said during a press conference:
"I'm pissed the hell off. I'm pissed. He gets to go home with his family for Christmas. My son is in a fricking cemetery. Fricking in the dirt. And he gets to go home to his family? I'm pissed the hell off, and at this point, I feel like the system is failing me. They have no remorse, none at all"
She was referring to Cedeno and his family here. Cedeno is being represented by two gay attorneys.
Updated Sources:
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/family-sue-student-stabbed-bullied-classmate-article-1.3535126
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Another-Knife-NYC-Classroom-Stabbing-Death-449058903.html
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx/bronx-teen-killed-classmate-mocked-homophobic-slurs-article-1.3527507
November 29, 2017
https://www.bet.com/news/national/2017/11/30/abel-cedeno-released-on-bail-after-donations-from-lgbt-community.html
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/bronx-school-slasher-released-jail-enraging-vic-mom-article-1.3665443
http://abc7ny.com/school-stabbing-suspect-released-after-judge-lowers-bail/2713288/
https://nypost.com/2017/11/29/teen-thanks-gay-men-for-250k-bond-in-fatal-school-stabbing/
Original Source:
http://abc7ny.com/what-we-know-about-school-stabbing-suspect-abel-cedeno/2464314/
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/09/28/bronx-school-stabbing-teen-student-charged/
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/28/nyregion/bronx-school-stabbing-abel-cedeno-bullying.html?mcubz=1
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx/bronx-teen-killed-classmate-mocked-homophobic-slurs-article-1.3527507
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/video-bully-hit-classmate-school-harassed-student-killed-teen-article-1.3528152
nypost.com/2017/09/28/mom-claims-video-shows-bullying-at-murder-school/
abc7ny.com/what-we-know-about-school-stabbing-suspect-abel-cedeno/2464314/
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/09/28/bronx-school-stabbing-teen-student-charged/
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/28/nyregion/bronx-school-stabbing-abel-cedeno-bullying.html?mcubz=1
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