FILE – Police investigate a stabbing.
Photo by Dean Moses
Bronx detectives nabbed the suspect accused of stabbing a teenager dead on Wednesday after a social media beef, police announced Friday morning.
Andrew Tollinche, 22, faces murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon charges for allegedly killing Jonathan Melo, 17, outside the suspect’s home on Beach Avenue during an altercation at about 4:34 p.m. on April 29.
Sources with knowledge of the case report that Melo and Tollinche had been antagonizing each other on Tiktok before the attack. Tollinche had a history of being a provocateur on the platform and instigating feuds with other users.
The pair apparently met up outside of the Beach Avenue location and engaged in a verbal dispute.
The words turned violent, sources said, after the suspect walked into his home with friends, allegedly retrieved a knife and returned to attack Melo. The rest of the group scattered when he launched the deadly attack, authorities said.
Officers from the 43rd Precinct, who responded to a 911 call about the incident, found Melo, who lived on Taylor Avenue in Soundview, with a stab wound to the back. EMS rushed him to Jacobi Hospital in critical condition, where he later succumbed to his wounds.
Sources familiar with the case said Tollinche has a prior arrest in September 2025 for allegedly raping a minor. He was additionally charged in that case with possessing a sexual performance by a minor.
Wednesday’s stabbing occurred amid a month of youth violence that rocked New York City.
On April 27, a 15-year-old boy was shot on a Manhattan-bound A train due to an ongoing beef. A 16-year-old boy was taken into custody on Wednesday afternoon in connection with the case. Previously, on April 16, 15-year-old Jaden Pierre was shot dead in a Queens park during a water gun fight.,