Police have identified a suspect in the recent killing of a homeless man in a Brooklyn playground and have released his photo.

Cops said Lewis Aranguren, 23, is wanted for the fatal stabbing of Daniel Becerra Izarra, 21, at Clinton Hill’s Steuben Playground, at Steuben St. and Flushing Ave., on Nov. 12.

The two men were involved in a dispute when Aranguren stabbed Izarra in the abdomen around 8:45 p.m., cops said.

Police investigate a stabbing inside Steuben Park on Flushing Ave. in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Gardiner Anderson / New York Daily News)
Police investigate a stabbing inside Steuben Park on Flushing Ave. in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Gardiner Anderson / New York Daily News)

Medics rushed the victim to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Brooklyn Methodist in Park Slope where he died. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner later ruled his death a homicide.

Police on Thursday unveiled surveillance images of the suspect taken from the scene.

Police are searching for Lewis Aranguern, 23, who is wanted for the fatal stabbing of 21-year-old Daniel Becerra Izarra at Steuben Playground in Brooklyn on Nov. 12. (NYPD)
NYPD

Police are searching for Lewis Aranguern, 23, who is wanted for the fatal stabbing of Daniel Becerra Izarra, 21, at Steuben Playground in Brooklyn on Nov. 12. (NYPD)

Izarra’s last known address was a homeless shelter on Randalls Island, though he was also known to stay at a migrant shelter on Reyerson St. located two blocks away from the playground where he was stabbed, cops said.

The fatal assault occurred at the same playground where Elijah Mitchell, 23, shot and killed Arturo Jose Rodriguez Marcano, 30, at 10:44 p.m. on July 21.

Just seven minutes later, a gunman hopped off the passenger seat of a moped and opened fire outside the nearby shelter on Reyerson St., striking intended target Enny DeJesus Urbina Mendez, 21, and a bystander, Francisco Fuentes Rangel, 59. Both victims died of their wounds.

The shooter got back on the moped and fled with the driver. They crashed about two minutes later and police arrested Jorge Said Benitez Villa, 26, who broke his hip in the smashup.

Investigators initially believed the July 21 shootings were linked before later determining they were unrelated.

Anyone with information that could lead police to the suspect in in the Nov. 12 fatal stabbing is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stopper’s Hotline at 800-577-TIPS. All calls are confidential.

Originally Published: November 14, 2024 at 6:16 PM EST

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