Teenage vendor stabbed dead in QC

MANILA, Philippines–A teenage vendor was killed Wednesday morning after he and two drinking buddies had apparently picked the wrong person to bully and allegedly extort money from.

Mark Stephen Torres, 16, of Bicol-Leyte Street in Barangay (village) Commonwealth, was declared dead by doctors at the East Avenue Medical Center two hours after he was found bleeding from a knife wound.

Senior Police Officer 2 Eric Lazo, of the Quezon City Police District Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (QCPD-CIDU), said the incident happened on Litex Road in Barangay Commonwealth, Quezon City at around 3 a.m. Wednesday.

Lazo said that before the incident, Torres and two male companions were drinking alcohol when, on a whim, they decided to extort money from passersby.

A neighbor, Lucila Daniles, told the police that she saw the teenager’s group chasing a man shortly before Torres was found with a stab wound on the right side of his body, abandoned by his attacker and two companions.

Neighbors brought Torres to the EAMC for treatment, but he was pronounced dead at around 5:30 a.m.

According to Lazo, the man that Torres’ group chased had apparently fought back and attacked them with a knife. With a report from Sunshine Blanco and Bernadette Nicolas