TikTok dispute spills into street as 22-year-old charged in fatal Bronx stabbing
THE BRONX (WABC) -- Andrew Tollinche, a 22-year-old TikTok personality known online as DGB, was arraigned Friday on murder charges in the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Jonathan Melo.Tollinche is accused of stabbing Melo on Wednesday afternoon on Beach Avenue, the street where the suspect lives. Surveillance video shows the teenager sitting on the ground awaiting help shortly after the attack."I want justice for my son and I am giving full space for the law," said the victim's mother, Raquel Melo.Melo says her son had been riding scooters with friends when they encountered Tollinche, who was arguing with someone in a car. According to the victim's mother, Tollinche allegedly went inside his building, returned with a knife and stabbed her son in the back.In recent months, a TikTok trend has drawn people to Tollinche's building to taunt or troll him. He has a previous arrest for raping a minor. Online speculation has suggested the stabbing may have been connected to social media disputes, but the victim's mother rejected those claims."I don't know what false narratives are out there about my son being involved in a social media dispute with this guy. There is absolutely no evidence of that. This is people running with information that they're grabbing from different videos," she said.Melo, who had no criminal record, was preparing to graduate from AECI 1, a charter school focused on engineering and architecture. His mother said he was interested in real estate and was known to family as JJ."I had a wonderful son. I just want him to be remembered for who he was. And it was a goofy self. He was the clown of the house," she said. "He instigated all the fun stuff."Tollinche was charged with murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the killing outside his Beach Avenue home Wednesday.Andrew Tollinche appears in Bronx Criminal Court (Kyle Mazza/Shutterstock/POOL)A GoFundMe for Melo, who was known as "JJ," has raised more than $7,000 so far.----------* More Bronx news* Send us a news tip* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts * Follow us on YouTube Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.Copyright © 2026 WABC-TV. All Rights Reserved.
