A Bronx father who served more than two years on Rikers Island for a knife attack he did not commit was stabbed to death early Saturday outside a rowdy bar, police and family members said.
Baraquiel Castelan, 32, was stabbed in the neck during an argument on Feb. 3 outside El Chicanito, a bar and restaurant on East 153rd Street in Melrose, police said — prompting some locals to question how the nightspot is affecting the neighborhood.
“He would give without getting anything in return,” Olivia Castelan, the victim’s 29-year-old sister, said of her brother.
“He would see someone fighting and he would try to break it up – he was never violent with anyone,” he added. “He earned the respect of the community.
Outside the bar on Monday, a makeshift memorial was set up for Baraquiel, where community members left candles spelling out BARA, the first letter of his name.
Baraquiel leaves behind two daughters, 9 and 1, the eldest “shocked” by her father’s sudden death.
“He can’t believe it. But he said ‘now he is with my grandfather. Now they’re both together,’” Olivia said, referring to her and Baraquiel’s father, who was murdered in Mexico last year.
Police have released a photo of the suspect in the stabbing death of Baraquiel Castelan, 32, a father of two from The Bronx who was killed Saturday outside the El Chicanito bar and restaurant in Melrose. NYPD
The family has dealt with several recent tragedies, including Baraquiel’s 27-month wrongful incarceration at Rikers Island, which devastated him and his family, relatives said.
“When he was at Rikers, we felt like we were there with him,” Olivia said. “He has PTSD… Mentally, it has affected him.
“That was really hard for us,” Olivia added. “You’re out of your daughter’s life, you’re paying for something you didn’t do.”
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After his release and release, Baraquiel is just beginning to put the pieces of his life back together.
“He changed his life after that. He took care of his daughter, he was a great father,” she said, noting that the family still has a pending legal case against the NYPD Baraquiel filed in 2018, which they “plan to pursue” even after his death.
On the night of her brother’s murder, Olivia is sickened to see it’s business as usual at El Chicanito.
El Chicanito, as well as the Da Finest Events youth lounge next door, are known in the community as magnets for violence, residents told The Post Google Maps
“I want them to shut the place down. Someone was killed there. Killed there. That same night I went there and they were open,” he told The Post.
“They can continue but our lives are stopped? Our life stopped? They just want to move, party, go about their business but we have to make plans to bury my brother.”
El Chicanito operates in a nondescript cement building with only two windows, both of which are boarded up. Neighborhood residents and business owners say the watering hole sometimes attracts violent visitors.
“The public is very afraid. Residents are scared. Everyone is talking and complaining and the city is doing nothing,” Steve Jacobs, owner of A&Z Electronics located on the same corner as the bar, told The Post.
Eivette, said the bar and another nightspot aimed at teenagers, has put the neighborhood on edge.
“There’s always blood here,” Eivette said. “Just a year ago someone was stabbed from there and died there.”
Police are asking the public for clues and have released photos of possible suspects in the attack, but no arrests have been made as of Monday.
There was no answer at a phone number listed for El Chicanito Monday afternoon.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
