NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A Bronx man was sentenced on Friday for fatally stabbing and burning his sister's ex-boyfriend in 2020, prosecutors said.
Adones Betances, 26, was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder following a three-week jury trial, Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced.
Betances approached Winston Ortiz, 18, and started an argument over his sister's relationship with Ortiz on Aug. 12, 2020, inside the fifth-floor hallway of a building on Woodycrest Avenue, according to court documents.
Betances first stabbed Ortiz multiple times in the chest and back. He then drenched Ortiz in gasoline and set him on fire.
Screams were heard from the hallway by residents where they found him on fire.
The teen was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition but died of his injuries.
According to prosecutors, footage from a responder officer's body-worn camera showed Winston naming his attacker and praying before he died.
"Winston Ortiz was killed in a torturous manner; stabbed and then set afire while he was still alive, because the defendant was upset that his sister and Winston had a relationship," Clark said. "He will be remembered as a caring, family oriented young man and it's unfathomable to think he was killed in such a horrific way."
Betances was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
