Lawyer claims NYC teen charged in poet slaying is ‘great kid’ who wasn’t ‘looking for trouble’
Fox News via Yahoo | October 6, 2023 | Rebecca Rosenberg

A lawyer for a teenager charged with randomly stabbing a New York City poet to death and then spitting in his girlfriend’s face claimed his client is a “good kid” who wasn’t “looking for trouble.”

Brian Dowling, 18, was arraigned Thursday night for the caught-on-camera murder of Ryan Carson in front of his girlfriend, Claudia Morales, on Monday after the pair left a wedding.

Video surveillance shows a man police have identified as Dowling bark at Carson, “What the f— are you looking at?” and “I’ll kill you,” then stab him three times as he tries to flee.

“It’s pretty clear when you look at the video, he wasn’t out there looking for trouble but was in the middle of an episode, and in that episode things unfolded,” attorney Kenneth Montgomery told Fox News Digital.

“That person had anger issues, and it spilled into something else.” The lawyer would not directly confirm his client was the man in the footage.

“I do know this young man comes from a good family, and I can’t imagine him not being remorseful for something like this if the facts are what they say they are [and he did this],” the attorney added. “He is a great kid but clearly may have some mental health issues.”

“I can’t imagine him not being remorseful for something like this…”

It remains unclear what prompted Dowling to attack. He was seen in the video at first walking past Carson and Morales, before turning back. 

Daily Mail | Oct. 5, 2023