On Saturday, July 30, 2022, at approximately 1207 hours, police responded to a 911 call of a male, stabbed at 174 W. Fordham Road, Magic 7 Smoke Shop, within the confines of the 52nd Precinct in the Bronx.
Upon arrival, officers observed 59-year-old male, unconscious and unresponsive, with a stab wound to the neck.
EMS responded and transported the aided male to NYC Health + Hospitals / Jacobi, where he was later pronounced deceased.
A preliminary investigation revealed that the victim was involved in a verbal dispute with a store employee in front of the location, when the 54-year-old suspect (also a store employee) approached the victim from behind and stabbed him in the neck.
Following proper family notification, the deceased has been identified as follows.
Victim:
Kenneth Fair
undomiciled
Bronx, NY
Pursuant to an ongoing investigation, the following 54-year-old male individual was arrested and charged in regard to the above-above-listed incident.
Arrested:
Vernon Gowdy
address withheld
Bronx, NY 10468
Charges:
- murder;
- manslaughter;
- criminal possession of a weapon.
The investigation remains ongoing.
All charges are merely accusations and all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to call the NYPD‘s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1–800–577–TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1–888–57–PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers‘ website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
All tips will be kept strictly confidential.
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