In what was described as a cold-blooded execution, 26-year-old Michael Monclus was killed on May 8, 2021. His death unfolded in a stairwell of the NYCHA Lexington Houses complex on East 99th Street in East Harlem, a place chosen specifically for its lack of surveillance cameras. Monclus was a resident of Washington Heights and was lured to the location under the false pretense of a drug deal orchestrated by two men he considered friends.
The perpetrators were identified as Tom Ruiz, then
25, and Jonathan Tolentino, then 20, both members of the Givenchy Stone Savages, a subset of the Bloods gang based in the South Bronx. Ruiz, a leader in the gang known as 'Top Savage,' had a friendship with Monclus and was involved in distributing marijuana and pills on his behalf. Tolentino was a lower-ranking member seeking to elevate his status within the gang through acts of violence. The plot to rob and kill Monclus was devised by Ruiz and Tolentino with the hope of gaining standing within their gang and to settle debts.
On the night of the murder, Ruiz and Tolentino convinced Monclus to pick them up in his car and drive them to East Harlem for the fabricated drug transaction. Upon their arrival, they led him into the stairwell where they shot him twice, once in the back and once in the side. Following the shooting, they stole Monclus's car and various belongings, including sneakers that Ruiz was seen wearing the next day. An investigation into the murder revealed that on the day of the killing, Ruiz had made internet searches on his phone for phrases such as 'how long does it take a person to bleed out.'
Following a 911 call reporting a man bleeding, police discovered Monclus unconscious and unresponsive in the stairwell with a gunshot wound to his torso. He was pronounced dead at the scene. An investigation led to the arrests of Ruiz and Tolentino. On May 17, 2024, a jury found both men guilty of murder and criminal possession of a weapon after deliberating for only thirty minutes. Tom Ruiz was sentenced to 32 years to life in state prison, while Jonathan Tolentino received a sentence of 25 years to life.
