Wife mourns man stabbed to death in fight over seat on Brooklyn MTA shuttle bus
A man stabbed to death on an MTA shuttle bus in Brooklyn was attacked during a clash over a seat, police sources said Monday.
Alvin Francis, 41, a father of three sons, was fatally stabbed in the abdomen on a J90 shuttle bus near Crescent and Etna Sts. in Cypress Hills just before 2 p.m. Sunday, cops said.
Francis and his killer got into an argument over a seat, police sources said.
'(Cops) just said he got into a tussle on the bus,' the victim's wife, Candice Todman-Francis, 36, told the Daily News. 'It's under investigation. I have not one detail. I'm just as lost as everybody else.'
A source with knowledge of the investigation who has seen surveillance video from inside the bus says it shows the stabber — a black man wearing a light gray hoodie, blue hat and a backpack — getting on the bus via a rear door. Francis entered through the same door moments later and sat down next to his killer.
After a few minutes, the killer stood up and the victim threw a punch at him, according to the source. Both men continued to fight, with the killer going on to stab Francis as the clash escalated.
The stabber fled the bus and has not been caught.
Todman-Francis spoke to her husband earlier in the day and the two discussed what they would have for dinner on Mother's Day.
'See you when I get home,' Francis told his wife, who quickly became worried when he didn't show up.
'I hadn't heard from him so I tracked his phone and I saw him at the precinct. So I called the precinct,' she said, explaining she was worried he'd been arrested.
Officers showed up on her doorstep not long after to deliver the tragic news.
Francis worked as a roofer and his job took him to multiple locations. 'He's a hard-working man,' his wife said. 'Work and home — literally, work and home and his favorite place is Home Depot.'
The two had been together for 21 years, got married five years ago and were planning a vow renewal ceremony for August.. They have three sons together.
Francis was working on Sunday to earn some extra cash for his son's middle school graduation. The shuttle bus runs on the weekend while the J train is out of service.
When asked if she had anything she wanted to say to the killer, Todman-Francis said, 'Do you want me going to jail? Just tell him, 'May God be with him.''
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Sapelo Island gangway collapse lawsuit filed
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — Emotions were high Wednesday during a press conference where victims relived the Sapelo Island gangway collapse that happened last October. Legal counsel announced that there will be a lawsuit and that they plan to hold everyone they deem liable accountable. 'I'm still having nightmares when I go to sleep, when I'm on the edge of the bed, it feels like I'm on a cliff or something,' George J. Francis said. Justice and advocacy were two words emphasized during Wednesday's press conference regarding the Sapelo Island gangway collapse. It happened on what was supposed to be a joyous celebration of Gullah Geechee culture. Seven people died in the accident, and many more were injured. 'It was a day that started out of excitement because I've never been to Sapelo,' victim Janice Carroll said. 'I was going to experience something new to a place that I had never been before. I was excited. Coming back and going back towards the ramp was, you know, oh, I had a great time. But once the incident happened, it was just like my whole point of view just changed.' More than 20 plaintiffs and six defendants are listed in the 100-page civil said that the defendants failed to ensure that the 80-foot gangways design was inspected, verified and approved by engineering professionals to confirm it could safely hold a certain number of people. They said it was dangerously under-designed and poorly constructed. Attorney Chad Mance represents the victims and said the tragedy could've been prevented. 'It kind of forced me to deal with the looming ghosts of the past here in Coastal Georgia,' Mance said. 'And one of those is the inequitable distribution of resources to indigenous peoples here. And that really is the huge elephant in the room in this case, and had resources been equitably doled out, we would have never had this kind of tragedy.' Victims are asking for compensation for their injuries and losses. Carroll and Francis said they couldn't believe what they were witnessing; they said no amount of money will ever be able to take away that memory. 'The only thing I could see was the thing going down, and I said, 'Oh my god', you know, and then you find yourself up in that water pulling yourself up out of the water,' Carroll said. Francis said, 'I remember when it hit the water, I could see the people on the Meridian side from the ferry throwing out lifejackets, with the lifejackets the current was carrying them so no one could really grab them.' This lawsuit could end up in a jury trial if no settlements are reached. It could take up to two years before victims see some type of resolution or justice. WSAV will update the story as more information becomes available. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
MTA renews anti-subway surfing efforts with ad campaign
Transit officials are hoping a new ad campaign, a new spokesman and a few subway car modifications will continue to drive down subway surfing deaths. The MTA relaunched its 'Ride Inside, Stay Alive' anti-subway surfing campaign on Wednesday, this time with the support of Queens-born professional BMX bike rider Nigel Sylvester. Like last year's initiative, the push involves a series of recorded subway announcements — by Sylvester, as well as by New York City schoolchildren — about the dangers of riding on the outside of a subway train, plus a series of digital posters displayed on subway and platform screens. 'Subway surfing is going to get you injured or killed,' Sylvester says in a subway announcement recorded for the campaign. 'It's pretty simple: Don't do it.' 'I believe I can relate to these kids,' Sylvester said Wednesday, when asked how a professional thrill seeker can be a role model for safety. 'Kids can relate to me, and we can have a meaningful dialogue.' Subway surfing has been a persistent, deadly problem, with six deaths attributed to the practice last year and five deaths in 2023. Another 25 people were injured while riding outside of trains in those two years. The overwhelming majority of subway surfers are teenagers. So far this year, one person — a 13-year-old boy — has died from subway surfing, succumbing to his injuries days after falling off the top of a No. 7 train in Queens. 'As a father of three children, I can't imagine seeing my child on [top of] a train as that train barrels down the track,' said NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow. 'I was a manager here on the [No.] 7 line,' Crichlow continued. 'I've seen on a first-hand basis what happens to the children when they come into contact with a fixed, immovable object.' The revamped campaign focuses not just on the dangers of subway surfing, but on the toll that kids' deaths take on surviving families and friends. A three-display ad unveiled Wednesday tells the fictionalized story, in comic-book form, of a 12-year-old who falls from a train, and the horrors his death inflicts on his friends, his mother and the EMT who responds to the scene. The MTA's chief customer officer, Shanifa Rieara, said the campaign involved 43 such ads that would be rolled out over the next 12 months. Other announcements focused on the senselessness of a subway surfing death. 'The rush from subway surfing is fleeting — the consequences are real,' Ahana Chandra, a student at Stuyvesant High School, said in her subway announcement. 'Six people died subway surfing last year, and for what?' The ad campaign comes amid a series of other efforts to curb thrill-seeking subway deaths. The transit agency is in the early stages of testing add-on barriers to train cars in an effort make it harder to climb up to the roof. Rieara also noted that the MTA's efforts to get subway-surfing videos taken down from social media continues. So far this year, she said, roughly 1,800 such videos have been removed by platforms like X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Bronx boy, 2, found in NYC waters: sources
THE BRONX, N.Y. (PIX11) — The body believed to be a 2-year-old Bronx boy who disappeared last month was found in the water near College Point in Queens on Wednesday, sources said. Little Montrell Williams was last seen on May 10 at his grandmother's house in the Bronx, according to police and the family. Queens Harbor Patrol found the body between Throggs Neck Bridge and LaGuardia Airport, and investigators are waiting for Bronx detectives to identify the body, sources said. NYPD divers had been searching the Bronx River since Monday. The father, Arius Willaims, was caught on surveillance video throwing a bag, possibly with the child inside, into the river, sources said. The boy's father told his mom over the weekend that he had thrown their son into the Bronx River. He also told his mother, Sabrina Williams, the boy was still alive. 'He good. He good. Don't worry about it,' the dad told his mom over the weekend. The 17-year-old mom had not seen her son since May 10. Two days later, she went to family court to report that her son was missing, but a warrant was not issued, sources said. She went back a second time pleading for help, but the outcome was unclear because the records are sealed. The mom then followed Williams after he got on a Manhattan-bound train and pressed him about their child, sources said. Williams, who was previously arrested for beating up the teen, then allegedly pulled a knife on her during the encounter, sources said. Williams was arrested and brought back to the Bronx for questioning, but has not been charged, according to sources. He was then held at Rikers Island for custodial interference. The child's grandmother told PIX11 News she had warned police about Montrell's disappearance, but was told it was legal because he was the father. 'My son kidnapped my grandchild out my house,' she said she told police in an interview with PIX11 News on Tuesday. Her son left with Montrell after a fight at a Mother's Day gathering at the grandmother's home. She begged him to bring the baby back before going to the cops on May 11. Sources said detectives believe the boy was not alive when the grandmother went to police to file a missing person's report because the dad turned up at a family member's home on May 11 without Montrell. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Wednesday the department is investigating how the family's missing report was handled. 'The NYPD takes any case of a missing person very seriously,' Tisch said on Good Day New York. This is a developing story. Please refresh the page for updates. Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the NYC area for more than a decade. She has been with PIX11 News for two years. See more of her work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
