Teen who stabbed classmate says he ‘snapped’ over being bullied

My son was NOT a racist, homophobic bully: Stepdad of boy, 15, who was stabbed to death by 'tormented' teenager speaks out

The Bronx teenager who fatally stabbed a classmate in the classroom said that he “snapped” after he was being bullied and only meant to scare the other teen.
“I guess I just snapped,” Abel Cedeno told the New York Daily News in an interview from Rikers Island. “I didn’t mean to kill him.”
“They bully me because I’m different,” he explained. “I’m not like the other guys. My voice is higher.”
Cedeno’s friends claimed that he had been the target of bullying based on his ethnicity as well as accusations that he was gay. They said he had been bullied since school began three weeks ago.
Cedeno is currently being held without bail and is on suicide watch after stabbing Matthew McRee, 15, and Ariane Laboy, 16, during a history class at the Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation. He said that because of the bullying, he had purchased a switchblade two weeks prior to the stabbing “to protect myself.”
However, police said that neither of the two boys who were stabbed on Wednesday had any history with Cedeno.

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Matthew McCree was fatally stabbed by a classmate.

One of the victims was throwing pens across the room in the middle of a third-period U.S. history class when Cedeno was hit, according to witness Jomarlyn Colon, 16, who was in the classroom at the time.

Cedeno demanded to know who did it, and when the McCree stepped forward to tell him it was an accident, Cedeno pulled a knife out of his front pocket, she said. It was a three-inch switchblade, Police Chief Robert Boyce said during a press conference later in the day.

McCree moved in to strike Cedeno, and Cedeno plunged the blade into the young man’s chest, Colon said.

Then LaBoy confronted the crazed classmate, and Cedeno stabbed him in the chest too, according to Colon.

“He went crazy,” Colon said.

Students tried to render aid to their bloodied classmates as the teacher tried to restrain Cedeno, she said.

“We were just holding Matthew,” she said. “When Ariane got stabbed they were holding towels on him. All the kids were crying. Mr. Kennedy tried to hold Abel but he broke free. They didn’t hold him tight enough.”

Another pupil in a nearby classroom recalled the ensuing fear and confusion.

“We heard screaming from the hallway,” said 10th grader Steven Nunez, who was in a classroom down the hall. “The teacher opened the door and people were screaming and running down the hall. Someone came in and said someone got stabbed and there’s blood in the hallway. The teacher locked the door and we were on hard lock-down for almost an hour.”

After the melee, Cedeno walked out into the hallway, where he handed the knife to a school counselor — then calmly strolled into an assistant principal’s office and sat in a chair while police were called, Boyce said.

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McCree was pronounced dead on arrival at St. Barnabas hospital, and LaBoy is there in critical but stable condition, officials said.

Cedeno was arrested and is being held at the 48th Precinct, where he told cops that an ongoing beef with his victims made him snap, according to Boyce.

“They were going back and forth for about two weeks — since school started,” he said. “It escalated today after some back and forth in the classroom.”

Mayor de Blasio pledged Wednesday to tighten security at the school, which does not have scanners, and implement scanning tomorrow.

“My heart goes out to the families,” de Blasio said during a press conference at the stationhouse. “Every parent every morning worries about the safety of their child.”

The school serves sixth through 12th grades and is co-located with elementary school PS 67. It’s also a low performer, and kids have told the city they do not feel safe there.

Just 5 percent of pupils there are proficient in math and 13 percent in English, according to last year’s state exam results. And less than half of students polled at the school last year — 47 percent — said they felt safe on campus, well below the city average.

Comment by j j on October 5, 2017 at 9:42am: @mikegee. I always wonder what would've happened had my daughter didn't know how to defend herself.. I always think of the kids who can't. smh..

Comment by mikegee on October 5, 2017 at 2:39am: @jj. That's the kind of story I like to hear. I don't like to see people fighting, but there is nothing better than seeing a person who picks a fight with someone get their butt kicked!!!

Comment by j j on October 5, 2017 at 12:33am: Hope this is a lesson..the teaches don't do anything only when something happens. My daughter was bullied in junior HS verbally...I went to the school, teachers said they would speak to the students, nothing happen. Since their verbal abuse had no effect on my daughter they decided to jump her.. Well that was a mistake because she kicked all three girls asses..you see my daughter start training in mixed martial arts at the age of 3 at the time she was a 8th stage junior black belt....she was only to defend herself if they evaded her space, they evaded her space and they got what they deserved. They never messed with her again.

Comment by mikegee on October 3, 2017 at 3:48pm: Everyone is gonna have a difference of opinion depending on what side of the fence they're on. If their kid is the one who got killed, they're gonna say that their kid shouldn't have been killed for bullying, especially if all they were doing was name calling. If that same person's kid did the killing, they're gonna say that their kid did that because they was getting bullied. When I went to school, if kids were getting killed for name calling or throwing a pencil across the room, half the school would be dead and the other half would be in jail. I don't think bullying is ok, but I also don't think a name calling so called bully should be killed either. I don't think that kid told his mother he was being bullied because I haven't heard that mentioned by her.

Comment by mssusieqno1 on October 3, 2017 at 3:24pm: This bullying nonsense need to stop! People either commit suicide over it or kill.

Comment by flores460 on October 3, 2017 at 1:14pm: The 18 year old said they were bullying him since school started. Well he had enough! My son was bullied too in high school. And when he had enough. He beat the crap out of the bully. I was always at the school. More than at work. I wanted to know that my kids were learning and not fooling around. I also wanted to make sure they were safe! So I sympathize with the 18 year old.

Comment by Big Woman on October 2, 2017 at 10:34am: Teachers no longer get involved because they can get sued or seriously injured.

Most of them are afraid of the kids anyway! If you touch a student even if you are just attempting to break up a fight and you injure the child you are brought up on charges with possible suspension-no pay.

Mind you, I am not saying the teacher's inaction was right given a young life was lost but some of the public school classrooms are wild and the kids are bigger than you are, no joke! PS, then the ratchet parents come to the school looking to fight you because you touched their child.

Comment by clindo on October 2, 2017 at 6:28am: What I dont understand is that why parents always have to say there child DON'T do anything wrong, or the CHILD is such and Angel and didn't deserve this. And it always been said when they get in trouble or kill.. come on. The boy said he was being bullied and he snapped and defended himself. But of course the other parents dont know what there kids are doing when there in school hanging around other kids that they want to be like or to impress them to fit in.. I am not condoning what the kid did. But before parents jump and say good things about there kids to justify there actions.. find out the TRUTH.

Comment by mikegee on October 2, 2017 at 1:52am: According to the school, this was the first time that this kid had messed with the killer. What happened to the days when you got snapped on and you snapped back. To me, bullying is when it gets physical and you're getting beat up, pushed around or jumped, but name calling being considered bullying? If this guy was getting his butt kicked and plunged a knife into the kids chest, people would be more sympathetic. I saw video last week where a transsexual kid was walking in the hallway of a high school and got sucker punched then kicked in the head by a group of people while laying on the floor. If that person would of stabbed a couple of those kids, I would of donated to their go fund me page for their legal defense.

Comment by Shelton Minor on October 1, 2017 at 7:32pm: Did I miss something? He did ask for this right? How long did he think this was going to go on? I bet he won't do it again. Wait... What??? We don't have room in our society for idiots anymore. If you are beyond the age of two you know right from wrong so I their is no excuse for this. Give the kid probation and move along his point was well received.