NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — A 15-year-old girl was charged with murder on Thursday after Sara Rivera, 17, was fatally stabbed in Sunnyside on Wednesday night, the NYPD said.
Police charged the 15-year-old with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. The NYPD does not release the identities of minors charged with crimes.
Rivera and the suspect were engaged in a heated argument shortly before 9:30 p.m. under the 46th Street-Bliss Street elevated subway station on Queens Boulevard, witnesses and police said.
Witnesses said that the duo was screaming loudly as the fight escalated, which police said prompted the assailant to take out a kitchen knife and stab Rivera in the neck.
EMS rushed Rivera to NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, where she was pronounced dead. Police released her identity on Thursday.
The alleged killer ran to the subway and fled the scene by train, but was quickly detained at the Flushing-Main Street station, police said.
A memorial honoring Rivera’s memory was built by her family and friends on Thursday afternoon.
A whiteboard reading “Long Live Sara” was the memorial centerpiece, providing space for people to write fond memories of Rivera.
“She never changed. She was always a loving, caring, friendly person,” Valerie Gonzalez, who has known Rivera since kindergarten, told 1010 WINS/WCBS 880.
Flowers, candles and balloons were added underneath several framed pictures of the departed teen.