22-year-old charged with hate crime in fatal stabbing

A 22-year-old man arrested for a fatal daytime stabbing in Elmhurst Monday was charged with murder as a hate crime, the NYPD said Tuesday.

An police spokeswoman said Steven Torres of the Bronx believed 69-year-old Ever Orozco had made a sexual gesture towards him, prompting the attack. Torres allegedly stabbed Orozco near a No. 7 train station at 90th Street and Roosevelt Avenue at 1 p.m. He died at Elmhurst General Hospital.

After the stabbing, Torres, who was also charged with criminal possession of a weapon, tried to flee but was caught a few blocks away by plain-clothes officers, the NYPD said.