Robbery Victim Arraigned On Murder Charges
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A robbery victim was arraigned today on charges that he killed a man whom he apparently mistook for one of his attackers.
A 40-year-old Metropolitan Transportation Authority worker, Maurice Parks, was robbed and stabbed by four men in Harlem in January, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Minutes later, he allegedly came across Flonarza Byas and stabbed him to death after misidentifying him as one of the robbers.
While previous reports indicated that Byas had actually tried to help Mr. Parks fend off his attackers, the District Attorney’s Office stated yesterday that Byas did not intervene in the robbery.
The government has repeatedly changed direction in the Parks case, first charging him with homicide and then ruling that the killing was an act of self-defense. He was arrested last Thursday, this time on charges of second-degree murder.
Mr. Parks, who has a black belt in jujitsu, applied to be a police officer on three occasions and was rejected each time.
