{"id":143298,"date":"2026-02-23T23:46:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T23:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/143298\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T23:46:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T23:46:21","slug":"goon-busted-after-nyc-man-found-bashed-to-death-in-apartment-cops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/143298\/","title":{"rendered":"Goon busted after NYC man found bashed to death in apartment: cops"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A vicious goon fatally bashed a 44-year-old man in the head inside his Bronx apartment and heartlessly left him to die, cops said Monday. <\/p>\n<p>Richard Vasquez, 37, attacked Joel Rivera around 7 p.m. Jan. 21 inside his residence on Nereid Avenue near Bronx Boulevard in Wakefield, a supportive housing development for veterans, police said.<\/p>\n<p>Rivera, who had suffered trauma to his head, was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center, where he clung to life for six days before succumbing to his injuries, authorities said.<\/p>\n<p>His death was ruled a homicide by the city medical examiner\u2019s office, according to police.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.15575621;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38580841\" width=\"682\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/44-year-old-man-fatally-122075150.jpg\" alt=\"Joel Rivera was attacked around 7 p.m. Jan. 21 inside his residence on Nereid Avenue near Bronx Boulevard in Wakefield, a supportive housing development for veterans, police said.\" class=\"wp-image-38580841\"  \/>Joel Rivera, 44, was attacked \u2014 allegedly by Richard Vasquez, 37 \u2014 on Jan. 21 inside his residence on Nereid Avenue near Bronx Boulevard in Wakefield, cops said. Google Maps<\/p>\n<p>Vasquez was arrested Feb. 14 and charged with murder, authorities said.<\/p>\n<p>The alleged killer, who lived about a half-mile away from the scene, was ordered held without bail during his arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court, and is due back before a judge on March 16, according to online Department of Correction records.<\/p>\n<p>It remained unclear Monday what, if any, weapon was used in the deadly attack, and what motivated the violence.<\/p>\n<p>Rivera is survived by his mom, sister, niece and nephew \u2013 as well as \u201chis most precious treasure\u2026his beloved dog, Scarlito, whom he spoiled endlessly and loved unconditionally,\u201d according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sistofh.com\/obituaries\/Joel-L-Rivera?obId=47079870\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">his online obituary<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJoel had a way of lighting up any room he entered, known for his infectious smile and playful, prank-loving spirit,\u201d his loved ones wrote. \u201cHe lived life to the fullest, always on the edge of his seat, embracing each moment with enthusiasm and heart.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJoel loved to cook and never hesitated to share a plate of food with anyone\u2014hospitality came naturally to him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rivera was also an organ donor, his relatives said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A vicious goon fatally bashed a 44-year-old man in the head inside his Bronx apartment and heartlessly left&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":143299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[357,128,303,1027,57,9,24,63,129,131,130,58],"class_list":["post-143298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-assaults","tag-bronx","tag-crime","tag-homicide","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}