3 men charged in fatal subway stabbing

From the NY Post:

Those charged were Brendy Garcia, 19, of Brownsville, Brooklyn, who is suspected of wielding the knife; Franklin Varella, 21 of Inwood, in Manhattan; and Diogenes Hernandez, 21, a JFK baggage handler who lives in Woodhaven, Queens.

Garcia, who has no criminal record, confessed to the stabbings, sources said. But he insisted he wielded his knife in an attempt to fend off the drunken men after they had clocked him in the head with a beer bottle.

He faces an additional charge of weapons possession.

The dead men, Darnell Morel and Ricardo Williams, had gotten on the No. 2 train at Times Square at 5 a.m. Sunday with about eight friends.

Both victims, along with several others in their group, had police records.

All of them had spent the night partying at Cellar Bar in The Bryant Park Hotel.

As soon as they boarded the train, they began menacing the passengers, according to the suspects' friends and other witnesses.

The witnesses said the gang woke a homeless man, then terrified a young woman.

After she fled the train, they allegedly confronted other riders, including the stabber and the other two suspects. They were returning home from a baby shower in The Bronx, a source said.

Soon, the victims and their pals began lobbing trash at the smaller group, the witnesses told cops.

The 19-year-old was hit with the bottle and furious words were exchanged.

The larger gang allegedly began moving toward the smaller group. They started fighting as the train traveled between the 14th Street and Christopher Street stations.

Both groups had been drinking on the train, cops said.

UPDATE: Charges against two of the suspects were dropped.