In the late hours of May 5, 1971, the life of 29-year-old Ivan Lorenzo, a Hispanic male, was tragically cut short in the Bronx, New York. An off-duty narcotics detective with the New York City Police Department, Lorenzo had spent the evening celebrating at a birthday party and a reunion for The Lions softball team. Shortly before 2:00 a.m., he and a group of six friends stopped near the Moonlight Bar & Grill.
While some of his friends went into that establishment, Lorenzo and a female friend entered the nearby Sun Bright Bar so she could use the restroom.
Inside the Sun Bright Bar, the woman mistakenly walked into the kitchen and was harshly reprimanded by a man. After she and Lorenzo returned to his car, he decided to go back inside with two male friends to speak with the individual who had been rude to his companion. Upon confronting the man, later identified as Harry Richardson, Lorenzo was shot point-blank in the chest without warning. Although he attempted to draw his own weapon, his injuries were too severe. Richardson then aimed his gun at Lorenzo's friends, ordering them to the back of the bar before escaping with the detective's off-duty revolver.
The subsequent investigation by the NYPD uncovered a significant quantity of heroin in the bar's kitchen, leading to the theory that Richardson, a heroin dealer, may have panicked, believing Lorenzo to be an on-duty officer despite his being in plain clothes. This fear of arrest is thought to be the motive for the sudden and fatal shooting. For three years, Richardson remained at large.
The search for Ivan Lorenzo's killer came to an end on May 13, 1974, when Harry Richardson, then 47, was apprehended in Los Angeles, California. He was brought back to New York to face justice for the murder of the six-year veteran of the police force. On December 12, 1975, Richardson was convicted of first-degree manslaughter for the death of Detective Lorenzo, who was survived by his wife and two children. In June of the following year, a plaque was installed in the 94th Precinct to honor the memory of the fallen detective.
