NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A 36-year-old man was sentenced in the 2022 fatal stabbing of a man in Midtown over a cigarette, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. announced on Thursday.
John Wright was sentenced to 19 years in state prison after pleading guilty to one count of manslaughter on Feb. 8.
According to court documents, on Dec. 6, 2022, Carlos Rosario, 24, and his coworker were standing together outside a store on West 42nd Street near Ninth Avenue just after 11 p.m.
Rosario’s coworker asked Wright's girlfriend for a cigarette, and all four began arguing, officials said.
The argument escalated and turned physical and Wright and two others chased Rosario and his coworker, punching and kicking Wright, prosecutors said.
Wright then pulled a knife out of his backpack and stabbed Rosario once in the chest.
Rosario died in the hospital shortly after the incident.
Wright fled the scene and was arrested two weeks later in the Bronx.
"John Wright stabbed and killed Carlos Rosario during a dispute that started about something as small as a cigarette. John Wright is being held accountable for his actions, but this prison sentence will not bring Mr. Rosario back to his friends and family," DA Bragg said. "My thoughts are with his loved ones as they grieve his loss."