Murder Charge Dropped For Uptown Fishmonger Following Fight: Report

UPPER MANHATTAN, NY — Murder charges were dropped Thursday against an Upper Manhattan fishmonger accused of fatally stabbing a man during a melee within the store, the New York Post reported.

Junior Aquino Hernandez, 34, was arraigned on Thursday following a fight that broke out earlier in the week over alleged stolen shrimp within the Express Fish Market near West 155th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, police said and the Daily News reported.

“At the time we are not prepared to go forward with the charges related to the death of Malik pending a full investigation,” Assistant District Attorney Mireille Dee said during the arraignment on Thursday, instead announcing only a first-degree assault charge for Hernandez, according to the New York Post.

The fish market employee was previously charged with murder, assault, and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.

Hernandez, a father of four with no previous criminal record, left the courtroom on supervised release, the New York Post reported.

The fight on Tuesday night started after Robert Burrell, 29, allegedly walked out of the store with shrimp he had not paid for, multiple publications reported. An employee followed him out of the business an an initial fight took place, the New York Post reported.

Burrell then returned a few minutes later with his brother Malik Burrell, and the pair went straight to the employees-only section and started a second melee, the New York Post reported.

The two brothers were bringing the food to their grandma's house to celebrate Malik's birthday, the Daily News added.

“They have no reason to steal, they have money. ... My son came up here to chill with his brother and enjoy his birthday, that’s it," Malik's father told the New York Daily News.

During the fight, Hernandez stabbed Malik twice in the torso with a kitchen knife, and then stabbed Robert three times as he was pulling his injured brother out of the front door, prosecutors said during the arraignment, according to the New York Post.

Malik died from his injuries, and Robert is in the hospital after needing emergency surgery, police said and multiple publications reported.

“We understand the serious nature of this incident,” the Assistant DA Dee said during Hernandez’s hearing, reported the New York Post. “We fully recognize that a young man lost his life and his brother is seriously injured."