Man Indicted for Attempted Murder at Mexican Day Parade

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. recently announced the indictment of Joel Nieves, 35, of the Bronx, for allegedly firing multiple gunshots during the Mexican Day Parade and hitting a 17-year-old innocent bystander in September 2025.

Nieves is charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with one count of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, one count of Assault in the First Degree, and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree.

“This alleged shooting occurred in the middle of a busy intersection and threatened the safety of countless bystanders,” said DA Bragg. “It is incredibly fortunate that additional people were not injured, and I wish the victim a full recovery from her injuries.”

As alleged in court documents and statements made on the record, on Sept. 21, 2025, Nieves was with a group of individuals at the Mexican Day Parade.

This event, celebrating Mexican Independence Day, began at noon and, like many of Manhattan’s smaller parades, ran southward, down Madison Avenue from 39th Street to 27th Street. The historic date of Mexican Independence Day is Sept. 16 and celebrates the country’s separation from Spain.

At approximately 4:50 p.m., Nieves and his group got into an argument with other individuals, which turned into a physical altercation.

The groups eventually separated, until they saw each other again near East 27th Street and Park Avenue South. Nieves displayed a gun and fired multiple shots in the direction of the crowd and struck a 17-year-old female bystander in the shoulder and chest. Nieves attempted to flee but was arrested by the NYPD near the scene.

The victim was rushed to a hospital and treated for a collapsed lung. She spent several days in the hospital before being released.

DA Bragg thanked the NYPD, particularly Detective Michael Omerza of the 13th Precinct and Detective Brian McCarthy of the Manhattan South Homicide Squad.

As reported in the New York Post, after he was arrested and shown surveillance video of the incident, Nieves told cops, “That’s me wearing the Yankees jersey and camouflage pants in the photograph. I am holding a gun. I fired it twice.”

“My bad, it was an accident,” Nieves told reporters when led out of 13th Precinct station house.

Nieves’s comfort in talking to cops and press likely stems from the fact he has at least 10 prior arrests.

Nieves’s attorney, Brad Foster of the Legal Aid Society, tried to minimize Nieves’s criminal history by saying his lone conviction was in 2013, but he passed over a 2014 attempted-robbery plea and what were two open warrants on separate Brooklyn and Queens cases.

Department of Correction records describe Nieves as 6 feet tall, 260 pounds. Nieves is being held on $250,000 bail or $750,000 bond in the Rose M. Singer Enhanced Supervised Housing complex on Rikers Island.

Nieves’s next scheduled court date is Jan. 29, 2026.