Teen arrested in Times Square murder inspired by TikTok challenge, claims 'self-defense'

Rocco Parascandola, Emma Seiwell, Kerry Burke, Colin Mixson and Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News on May 7, 2026

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NEW YORK — A 17-year-old boy stopped by cops for jumping a turnstile at a Brooklyn subway station Thursday has been arrested in connection with a Times Square stabbing inspired by a TikTok trend, police said.

After he was caught, the teen admitted that he zeroed in on Leonides Baez, 39, outside of Burger & Lobster restaurant on Monday because he was following a “mess-with-a-crack-head” challenge on TikTok, a police source said.

Baez was sleeping on the sidewalk when the teen approached and started antagonizing him, the source said.

However, as the suspect awaited arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court Thursday afternoon and reporters shouted questions at him, he hurled back, “It was self-defense, p—y! Suck my d–k! … It was self-defense!”

Shortly after that, as he sat in the front row of the courtroom, the suspect exclusively told the Daily News, “He punched me in my face first — so it was an act of self-defense.”

The teen was caught jumping a turnstile at the Stillwell Ave. station in Coney Island just after midnight Thursday. Cops quickly realized he was wanted for the Times Square stabbing.

Police recovered a scalpel from the teen, but it wasn’t immediately clear if it was the murder weapon.

The teen, whose name was not released by the NYPD because he is underage, was charged with murder and weapons possession for the 11:30 p.m. slaying on W. 43rd St. near Seventh Ave.

Baez was stabbed him in the face, torso, and back, cops said. The teen is not believed to have recorded the slaying, police sources say.

The slaying follows an attack inspired by social media on April 27 in Binghamton, N.Y., where Peter Bennedum, a 45-year-old homeless man, was beaten to death by a group of five teens between the ages of 13 and 15, according to local news reports.

Content creators have drawn criticism for online pranks targeting homeless people, including an LA-based YouTuber deplatformed after posting videos in which he offered a homeless man food only to eat it in front of him.

In another instance, a drone channel called “BumsNDrones was kicked off Facebook, YouTube and TikTok after posting footage of drones dive bombing homeless men while blasting music," according to a newsblog for drone enthusiasts.

Medics rushed Baez to Bellevue Hospital but he could not be saved.

His sister described Baez, who grew up in Worcester, Mass., as a free-spirited “wanderer” who was homeless by choice.

“He was such a loving person,” the sister, who declined to give her name, said of her brother in an exclusive interview. “He was loved by everybody.”

The attackers ran off east on W. 43rd St. toward Bryant Park. Cops are still looking for two accomplices but believe the teen is the stabber.

“Why? What was the point?” the sister said of the slaying. “Were you that bored that you had to bother somebody? You getting brownie points to dehumanize somebody?”

The teen’s arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court was pending Thursday.

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