Teen, 19, dies saving her boyfriend in fight that erupted after girl 'groped her butt' at NYC bar

From WWW.DAILYMAIL.CO.UK

A man has been arrested in the shooting death of a woman in Manhattan's Flatiron district on Thursday night.

Ruddy Osias, 27, of Bayswater, Queens, has been charged with murder in the death of Erica Lopez, 19.

Lopez and her boyfriend Andres Arias, 21, had been at a birthday celebration on a swanky rooftop bar in Manhattan's Flatiron district on Thursday night when an argument broke out at the bar with another group of customers, after a girl groped Lopez.

The couple decided to leave around midnight but they were then confronted by some of the group in the street before a car pulled up and a man opened fire, killing Lopez and injuring Arias.

Osias faces charges of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon for allegedly shooting the Connecticut couple after they reportedly got into an argument with strangers.

According to the New York Post  Osias is alleged to have jumped out of the car and began opening fire.

Arias is believed to have only have been saved after Lopez pushed him out of the way.

In an exclusive interview on Saturday evening, Arias told DailyMail.com that an NYPD detective had called him late in the afternoon to tell him that his girlfriend's killer had been arrested.

'They didn't go into specifics, but just said they'd got the guy and that he ended up confessing,' Arias recalled of the conversation. 'I was just very emotional. I was really sad, but also happy. Yes, it doesn't bring back Erica, but legally she got the justice she deserves. That's the main thing I was worried about, that she wouldn't get justice.'

Arias is recovering from a bullet wound at home in Norwalk, Connecticut.

'My body still hurts, especially my left side where I got shot, but I'll be fine,' he said.

He said he attended a vigil for Erica at a local church Friday night where he met her mother there for the first time.

'The first thing I told her was, "I'm truly sorry. My job was to protect her no matter what happened and I failed her,"' he recalled. 'She told me it was God's choice to take her home at this time. We just hugged and started crying. She's a strong woman, a really, really strong woman. She has a big heart, just like Erica.'

On Friday, heartbroken Arias shared a video of the couple's final hours together as they enjoyed a night on a rooftop bar.

Arias told DailyMail.com exclusively that his girlfriend Erica Lopez may have saved his life by shoving him out of the way when the shooting started.

'Erica pushed me out of the way, and one bullet went through her chest and grazed me through the left side of my ribs,' he said.

'I saw my girlfriend Erica falling to the ground, and I dove to grab her so she didn't hit her head,' he explained.

'I turned her over, and she was bleeding through her left chest.'

Certified in CPR, Arias said he performed chest compressions to try and keep her alive before he then blacked out.

'Once I came back to my senses, I saw EMTs putting Erica onto a stretcher and other EMTs putting me onto another stretcher,' he said.

The couple were taken by ambulance to Bellevue Hospital and placed in the same room, separated by a curtain, where Lopez died a short time later.

Paying tribute to his girlfriend, Arias said: 'She's a spiritual amazing woman. She would always bring the good out of me and she would never fail to put a smile on my face.

'Her energy would inspire you to get out of your comfort zone. She was a sweetheart, she was free and she was always love.'

The night started out as a celebration at 230 Fifth Rooftop, located near Madison Square Park at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 27th Street.

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Submitted 1394 days ago


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