Teenage girl arrested over murder of immigrant who ‘stood too close to her’ in Dunkin’ Donuts

New York police arrested the woman for the deadly shooting of a 24-year-old in March

Santiana Rodriguez leaving a Dunkin’ Donuts in Williamsbridge after arguing with Stephaun Stuart. (NYPD/WNBC)

New York police have arrested a woman in connection to the deadly shooting of a 24-year-old Jamaican immigrant following a dispute inside a Dunkin’ Donuts shop in March.

WNBC reported Tuesday that NYPD officials claimed that 18-year-old Santiana Rodriguez got into an argument with Stephaun Stuart at the Dunkin’ Donuts on East Gun Hill Road in the Williamsbridge neighbourhood of the Bronx after she said that he was standing too close and “disrespecting her.” Ms Rodriguez then allegedly called her boyfriend for help.

Both Mr Stuart and Ms Rodriguez left the store without incident, but NYPD officials say Ms Rodriguez and her boyfriend tracked down Mr Stuart and a companion around Holland Avenue and East 212th Street. Soon afterwards, the boyfriend allegedly shot Mr Stuart.

Ms Rodriguez’s boyfriend is still at large. Ms Rodriguez herself is being charged with murder.

Surveillance footage from a nearby sidewalk released by NYPD shows Ms Rodriguez wearing all black and white Nike sneakers leaving the Dunkin’ Donuts location with a drink and paper bag following the alleged incident inside the store.

Mr Stuart had only moved to the Bronx from his home in Jamaica three months before the shooting. He was reportedly working at a restaurant and sending money home to his mother and two sisters.

“I’m surprised someone would just hurt him like that over nothing,” Mr Stuart’s aunt told CBS2 in March.