Teen, 17, Murdered After Being Lured Into Bronx Park

Esmeldyn Peña, 17, was stabbed to death in Claremont Park early July 4th.    


Bronx

By Geoffrey Croft

A seventeen year old was murdered after being lured into a Bronx park.  

Esmeldyn Peña, 17, was stabbed to death inside Claremont Park early July 4th after he received a call to come to the park relatives say.     

The incident occurred on Monday, at 2:35 a.m. in the park near Clay Avenue and Belmont Street according to police. 

The victim was stabbed in his chest which punctured his lung and heart.

A friend put the victim in his car and drove him to Bronx Lebanon hospital where he died at 4:40 a.m.

Peña and the friend were talking to some girls nside the park. He started talking to another group that he knew but the friend didn't.

The friend said he didn't see the attack but saw the Peña grab his chest and blood spread across his shirt and he fell to the ground.

A search of the scene turned up a black handled knife across the street from the park.

According to the parents of the victim, their son, who worked as a mechanic, received a strange call for him to come to the park they said.

"He received a call from a friend, I told him not to go,"  said his uncle Carlos Peña.

He stated that when he went to the park he was ambushed. 

The heartbroken family is of Dominican descent.

Police interviewed several people but have made no arrests.