Police: Trevor Bender, 17, dies after stabbing on Mastic street corner

A Mastic teenager was stabbed and killed Friday during a fight with a group of people he knew, Suffolk County police said.

Trevor Bender, 17, was a passenger in a car that got stuck in traffic on Mastic Road in Mastic, police said. Bender and his friend, 18-year-old driver, got out of the car and the two approached the group standing at the corner of Mastic Road and Moriches Avenue where an argument ensued.

"They were just really cursing at each other," Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer of the Suffolk Homicide Squad said Friday.

The argument escalated into a fight.

"One girl smacked Trevor. He punched her. Then the second girl punched him," Beyrer said.

A third person from the group, whom police would only identify as a male, stabbed Bender once in the chest. The suspect fled on foot.

The stabbing occurred about 5:10 p.m., police said.

A fire chief, who was also stuck in the same traffic jam, saw what happened and called for an ambulance, Beyrer said. The fire chief and Bender's friend tried to stop the bleeding until the ambulance arrived.

Beyrer said police have identified some members of the group standing the corner, but declined to share any information about the suspect.

No one was in custody as of late Friday, Beyrer said.

Bender was taken to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in East Patchogue, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

Police urged anyone with information to call the Homicide Squad at 631-852-6392 or Crime Stoppers at 800-220-TIPS.