Andrew Tollinche, 22, pleaded not guilty after police said Jonathan Melo, 17, was stabbed outside a Beach Avenue building.
NEW YORK, NY — A 22-year-old Bronx man known online as a TikTok personality was arraigned Friday on murder charges after police said he fatally stabbed 17-year-old Jonathan Melo outside a Soundview apartment building.
Andrew Tollinche, known online as DGB, faces charges of murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon in the Wednesday afternoon stabbing. Police said the case grew from social media posts and a street confrontation near Tollinche’s home on Beach Avenue. Melo’s death has left his family asking for answers while investigators sort through video, witness accounts and the online dispute that officers say came before the attack.
The stabbing happened shortly after 4:30 p.m. Wednesday outside a building on Beach Avenue in the Soundview section of the Bronx. Officers found Melo with a stab wound to his back, and he was taken in critical condition to NYC Health and Hospitals/Jacobi, where he was pronounced dead. At first, police had not announced an arrest or a clear motive. By Friday, Tollinche had been taken into custody and brought before a judge in Bronx Criminal Court. Raquel Melo, the teen’s mother, said her son had been riding scooters with friends before the encounter. “I want justice for my son and I am giving full space for the law,” she said after the arraignment.
Police said detectives were looking at Tollinche’s TikTok activity as part of the investigation. Authorities said he had antagonized people on the platform and that neighborhood teens had recently gathered outside his home, knocked on his door and called him out. Police said Melo was part of a group that went to the building, but accounts differ on whether he was directly involved in the confrontation or caught up in it. Officials said the dispute turned physical after Tollinche went inside, got a knife, came back outside and allegedly stabbed Melo in the back. Surveillance video showed the teen sitting on the ground as people waited for help. The knife was described in court accounts as a large kitchen knife.
Melo’s family said he was a high school senior with no criminal record and a close bond with his relatives. His mother described him as full of life, active and funny, and said he loved basketball and working out. She said he had talked about graduating and pursuing real estate so he could help his family. Melo was the second oldest of four children and lived about a mile from the scene. His mother said she knew little about the dispute that brought him to Beach Avenue. She said her son was at the wrong place at the wrong time and wanted people to know he was not the false image that can follow young victims after a violent death.
The case also brought renewed attention to Tollinche’s earlier legal trouble. Records and police accounts say he had a prior unsealed arrest in 2025 involving allegations that he raped a minor. He had pleaded not guilty in that case to charges that included rape, promoting a sexual performance by a child, possessing a sexual performance by a child and endangering the welfare of a child. A judge had released him in that case with an ankle monitor, according to accounts from law enforcement sources. His lawyer, Edgar DeLeon, said Tollinche had faced threats and violence after the earlier case became known. DeLeon called Melo’s death a tragedy but gave limited comment on the new murder charge.
At Friday’s arraignment, Tollinche pleaded not guilty to the charges tied to Melo’s death. Prosecutors said he stabbed Melo in the back with a large kitchen knife, causing the teen’s death. The case remains in its early stage, and police have not released a full timeline of every person involved in the confrontation. Investigators are expected to keep reviewing surveillance video, digital records and witness statements from people who were outside the building. The separate 2025 case against Tollinche also remains active, leaving him facing legal proceedings in two matters. Court officials did not immediately announce a full schedule of future hearings in the homicide case.
Outside court and near the family’s Soundview home, relatives described a teen whose death came without warning. Raquel Melo said her son had been in surgery for about 30 minutes before he died. She said he loved his family, made people laugh and had begun bonding with his father through workouts. “Jonathan was so full of life,” she said. “He was the clown of the house.” The death shook neighbors because it turned a digital conflict into a fatal street encounter in the middle of a weekday afternoon. The scene on Beach Avenue, where police tape and officers marked the aftermath, became the place where an online argument met the daily life of a Bronx block.
Tollinche remained charged as of Sunday, May 3, while police and prosecutors continued building the case. Melo’s family continued to press for justice and to defend his name as the next court steps moved forward.
Author note: Last updated May 3, 2026.