Manhattan detectives have arrested the suspect in what appears to be the first NYC homicide of 2025: Wednesday’s fatal slashing of a man in Harlem.
Darnell Jackson, 39, of West 137th Street was charged on Jan. 1 with second-degree murder for the killing of Alfredo Cortes, 72, earlier on New Year’s Day morning, police announced Thursday.
Law enforcement sources allege that Jackson attacked Cortes near the corner of West 137th Street and Lenox Avenue at about 4:21 a.m. on Jan. 1.
Officers from the 32nd Precinct, in responding to a 911 call about the incident, found Cortes with a slash wound to his neck. EMS rushed him to Harlem Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Police said Jackson was apprehended near the crime scene on Wednesday morning initially as a person of interest in the case. He was criminally charged later that evening following questioning.
The motive for the deadly stabbing remains under investigation, sources familiar with the case said.
Jackson was ordered held in custody indefinitely without bail during his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on Jan. 2. He had been out on parole since Feb. 14, 2023, after serving time for criminal sale of a controlled substance and promoting prison contraband, according to state records.
As of Dec. 29, 2024, the NYPD reported 375 murders year-to-date in 2024, a 3.8% decrease from the 390 homicides reported at the same point in 2023.
