A teenager has been nabbed for the cold-blooded slaying of a man stabbed outside Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, police said Tuesday.
Noah Rentas, 18, is charged with killing 27-year-old Michael Hernandez on March 14, with the slain man’s mother calling the alleged attacker a “coward.”
“Why did you murder my son?” Marisol Miranda cried out as police led Rentas from the NYPD’s 78th Precinct stationhouse following his arrest. “You lost your life just to murder my son — your own kind — that’s so sad. Coward!”
“I’m overwhelmed,” the victim’s aunt, who helped raise Hernandez, said Tuesday, minutes after getting word of the arrest from cops. “I’ve been praying every day, hoping they catch them. I’ve been praying a lot.”
Hernandez was stabbed numerous times in the abdomen at about 9 p.m. Friday outside a Barclays Center concert by J-Hope that was part of the BTS member’s solo tour.
Police said the victim got into an argument with four teen boys and was then knifed. It wasn’t immediately clear what the argument was about, but according to police sources, Rentas is the one who allegedly stabbed Hernandez.
“I’m sure his mother loves him, but I lost my son,” Miranda said of Rentas. “She isn’t grieving. My son was a loving, caring man.”
Police are still investigating and searching for others involved in the murder, with Hernandez’s mother suspecting that as many as 10 people may be responsible.
“I want them to get every single one of them,” Miranda said. “I want a sentence of at least 10 to 25 years and I’m not going to rest. My son’s name is going to live on because I’m going to become an advocate for him and other families that have lost loved ones.”
“I hope they catch everyone,” added the victim’s aunt, who asked not to be named. “I hope this person finds it in his heart to let them know the reason why and what led to the people just hurting other people and to take someone’s life.”
The group fled, police said, and Hernandez walked away, only to collapse in the middle of Flatbush Ave. near Atlantic Ave.
“He died on the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush,” said Miranda. “That corner will forever hold my heart.”
Hernandez worked as a security guard, the aunt said, noting cops told her the young man’s last words were “Please, don’t let me die.”
“I have not slept since I got this news,” she said.
Rentas is charged with murder and weapon possession. He lives in South Slope, Brooklyn, according to cops. He has no prior arrests.
As police escorted the teen from the precinct to Central Booking, Hernandez’s mother and three female relatives repeatedly cried out, “Coward!” while the grieving mom clutched a framed photo of her son close to her chest. Rentas’ arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court was pending Tuesday night.
“If you were man enough to pick up a knife and murder my son, you’re man enough to go to jail for a long time,” Miranda said. “It’s my own kind that murdered my son. I’m humiliated. I’m disgusted.”
Meanwhile, the victim’s aunt hopes the teen can “find God or something spiritually.”
“They ruined their own future,” she said, “and they’re young.”
Hernandez‘s funeral will be held Thursday.
“They should have never taken his life,” his aunt said. “He’s gone. We can’t get him back. Everyone, his family has just been hurt and mourning him. He’ll be our angel forever.”
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