An arrest has been made in connection with the murder of Kristal Bayron-Nieves at an East Harlem Burger King.
Winston Glynn, 30, was taken into custody on Jan. 12 and charged with murder, criminal use of a firearm, criminal possession of a weapon, and two counts of robbery.
Police say that at 12:47 a.m. on Jan. 9, Bayron-Nieves was working at the Burger King, located at 154 East 116th St., when Glynn allegedly entered the store, pulled out a firearm and demanded cash—the register only contained $100 and when Glynn demanded more money Bayron-Nieves could not open another register because she did not have the key. As she crouched down to the floor, Glynn then allegedly opened fire and struck Bayron-Nieves in the torso. She was transported to Metropolitan Hospital and was pronounced dead.
Glynn also allegedly pistol-whipped the store manager, knocking two teeth out and then stole his phone, and punched another customer before fleeing the scene. The NYPD recently offered a $10,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction of the shooter.
Following Glynn’s arrest, police officials along with Mayor Eric Adams hosted a briefing on Jan. 14 at police headquarters detailing the charges being placed and the grim circumstances of the murder.
Police officials described the investigation as good old-fashion detective work. Detectives interviewed witnesses, utilized surveillance video from the Burger King and compared the suspect’s height, gait, and attire with footage from MTA cameras. Chief of Detectives James Essig shared that those on the case took the death of Bayron-Nieves very personally and were enraged at the cold-blooded murder of the teen after she complied with the killer’s demands.
“This was such a horrible and heartbreaking crime, and they took this personally. When you see the video and think of this terrible incident, a senseless brutal killing of a teenager who was doing the right thing, working on a Saturday night at 12:30 and had a life cut short. It both makes your blood boil and shocks your senses,” Chief Essig said, eyes welling.
The suspect arrived at the restaurant wearing a ski mask and a black jacket. However, Essig stressed that the suspect’s headphones served as a key item in the investigation. These white earbuds dangling from the alleged killer’s front pants pocket were compared with footage from the 116th and Lexington Avenue train station.
“We are able to identify, pre-shooting, a male with different clothing at this time, but with the same gait, height, and earbuds hanging out of the pants, he also has a backpack on at this time, we track that now person of interest and are able to ID that male. We then are able to confirm that he was a prior employee of that same Burger King. He worked there between April of 2020 and December of 2020,” Essig said.
amNewYork Metro inquired if Glynn had any sort of relation to Bayron-Nieves; however, Essig stated that since there was a year gap between both employees working at the food establishment, they find any relation between the pair to be unlikely.
Glynn has a prior criminal record of four arrests of menacing, criminal possession of a weapon–a knife–and assault and criminal mischief. Essig shared that police were able to track Glynn’s addresses to both Brooklyn and Queens, and he was apprehended in front of 12 Patchen Ave in Bushwick.
“This is a step toward justice. While this does not bring Kristal back, it may serve as a measure of comfort to a family that is preparing to bury a child,” said NYPD Chief of Department Kenneth Corey, “Our detectives are determined and they are relentless. We often hear the term a senseless murder. That is not a cliche in this case. There was no reason to shoot this young woman. Money had been handed over. She was trying to comply with the gunman’s demands. She was killed for no apparent reason.”
Mayor Eric Adams applauded the steadfast efforts of the NYPD and their compassion when handling the case. The mayor also cited this incident as yet another reason change is needed within the city and admonished those who criticize and question his urgency to put into place an apparatus supporting the NYPD in aid of removing guns from the streets.
“When I visited Kristal’s mother and just saw the pain on her face and saw how much this tore her apart, and we don’t see those cries. We don’t see the pain often. Sometimes, we report these incidents as just mere numbers, but these detectives understood the Kristal was not a number and they carried out their job in a professional capacity and brought this killer to justice. And I believe we need to think about that when we start to look at how important we need a department that understands, as I say over and over again, the prerequisite to our prosperity is public safety and justice,” Adams said.
