In the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx, a verbal dispute outside a local bodega on a Monday evening escalated into a fatal act of violence that claimed the life of 56-year-old Emilio Rosas. A Hispanic male, Rosas lived next door to the deli at the corner of East 187th Street and Crotona Avenue, a familiar place that would tragically become the scene of his final moments on February 17, 2025.
Around 6:21 p.m., the sound of a gunshot cut through the evening air.
Police responded to a 911 call and discovered Rosas lying unconscious and unresponsive on the pavement. He had sustained a gunshot wound to the chest. Emergency medical services arrived swiftly and transported him to Saint Barnabas Hospital, but his injury proved too severe, and he was pronounced dead.
The investigation into the shooting led to the swift apprehension of two suspects the following day. The New York Police Department's 48th Precinct arrested 62-year-old Tony Harris and 35-year-old Shantelle Degout in connection with the fatal shooting. The altercation that preceded the deadly encounter remains a central point of the ongoing investigation as authorities work to piece together the full sequence of events that led to the death of Emilio Rosas.
Authorities charged Tony Harris with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon. Shantelle Degout faced charges of first-degree manslaughter, as well as first and second-degree assault. The arrests brought a small measure of progress in a case that left a community grappling with the sudden and violent loss of one of its members.
