In the early morning hours of January 9, 2022, the life of 19-year-old Kristal Bayron-Nieves, a young woman of Puerto Rican descent, was tragically cut short during her late-night shift at a Burger King in East Harlem. Having moved to New York from Puerto Rico with her family just a few years prior, she had recently started this job to help her family and save money for nursing school.
Despite her fears about working the night shift, a concern she had voiced to her family, she was dutifully at her post as a cashier.
Just before 1 a.m., a masked gunman entered the restaurant on East 116th Street. The assailant pistol-whipped the store manager and a customer before demanding money from the register. Bayron-Nieves complied, handing over approximately $100. The robber demanded more money, but as she struggled to open a second cash drawer for which she didn't have a key, he fired a single, fatal shot into her torso. The entire senseless act was for a meager amount of cash, leaving a family and a community devastated.
The New York Police Department launched an intensive investigation, using surveillance footage to track the suspect's movements. A key clue that helped identify the man was a pair of white earbuds seen hanging from his pocket in the video footage. This detail led investigators to Winston Glynn, a 30-year-old former employee of that same Burger King, who had worked there in 2020. Glynn was arrested in Brooklyn several days after the shooting.
Winston Glynn was charged with murder, robbery, and criminal possession of a weapon. In March 2022, he pleaded not guilty to the charges. While incarcerated and awaiting trial, Glynn maintained his innocence in a jailhouse interview, comparing his situation to that of Nelson Mandela and Jesus. The case continues to move through the legal system, while the family of Kristal Bayron-Nieves and the East Harlem community continue to mourn the loss of a young woman who was just beginning her life. In her memory, the corner of 116th Street and Lexington Avenue was renamed in her honor.
