Gregorio Alvarez

On the evening of December 28, 2022, a group gathered for a vigil in the Crotona neighborhood of the Bronx. They were mourning Carlos Gonzalez, a man who had been fatally shot at a nearby social club just two days earlier. Among the mourners was Gregorio Alvarez, a 28-year-old Black man from Queens. The somber gathering was shattered by a sudden burst of gunfire that would claim his life and injure three others.

The shooting happened around 6:35 p.m. near the corner of Marmion and East Tremont Avenues. According to police, two men pulled out guns and began firing into the crowd. When the chaos subsided, four men had been shot. Emergency services rushed to the scene and transported all the victims to St. Barnabas Hospital. Gregorio Alvarez, who had been struck in the chest, was pronounced deceased at the hospital. The other three victims, men aged 25, 27, and 46, were treated for gunshot wounds to the arm, leg, and torso, respectively, and were all listed in stable condition.

The investigation was handled by the NYPD’s 48th Precinct. Detectives identified two suspects in the deadly shooting. On January 12, 2023, police arrested the first suspect, 28-year-old Cristian Blancomejia of the Bronx. He was charged with murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon. Authorities reported that he was being held without bail.

The second suspect, 23-year-old Jhonathan Diego, remained at large for several months. He was eventually tracked to his girlfriend’s home in Stone Mountain, Georgia, where he was arrested on March 21, 2023. Diego was extradited back to New York City. As of April 2023, he had been charged with murder, manslaughter, attempted murder, and criminal possession of a weapon, the same charges filed against his alleged accomplice.