MANHATTAN, NY – A deadly incident of violence unfolded in Washington Heights when a food truck cook, Mateo Solis, 20, was fatally stabbed during what began as a birthday celebration. Mateo’s girlfriend, Maria Moyotl Capulin, 24, mother of his two children, reported that the assault occurred after two men demanded that Solis pay for their meals at the Taco Inn restaurant.
The confrontation led to a violent dispute after the men insisted that Solis also pay for their drinks, and later escalated outside the restaurant around 2:15 a.m. According to Capulin, the assault happened quickly when the men maliciously approached Solis under the pretense of wanting to speak with him. Despite brief resistance from Solis, he was tragically stabbed in the back and succumbed to his injuries later at Harlem Hospital.
Mateo worked alongside Capulin in the family-owned food truck, Tacos Moy. NYPD released surveillance photos of the suspects, but no arrests have been made. As the community reels from this senseless violence, his brother, Javier Solis, calls for justice, emphasizing the urgency of capturing the assailant responsible for tearing their family apart.
Mateo and Maria, who had recently moved to the US from Mexico, were planning a future together, including building a home for their children in Mexico. Now, Maria faces the heart-wrenching task of informing their young children about their father’s untimely death with the help of a child psychologist.
The local community and the family remain in shock, mourning the loss of a young life to a violent act that unfolded over a disagreement that should have never escalated to such extremes.