HOW MUCH IS A LIFE WORTH IN THE BX? 17 YEAR OLD STABBED IN THE NECK OVER $10!

A teenager was brutally stabbed to death in the Bronx Saturday for trying to get a $10 refund after he was kicked out of a party, the teen's sister said.

"They killed my brother over $10," Starleena Vargas, 20, of Hunts Point, said. "My brother didn't deserve to die over $10."

Cops said they found Damien Martinez, 17, with a stab wound to the chest when they responded to a 911 call outside a building on Bathgate Ave. in the Bronx Tremont section.

Martinez was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival, police said.

Vargas said she and Martinez were among a group of partygoers booted from a bash at another Bathgate Ave. building that had gotten out of hand.

She said Martinez was attacked when he tried to get a refund for the cover charge.

"They threw him on the floor and started kicking him," she said. "When he tried to protect himself by curling up, they hit him in the head with a metal bat."

She said the group then threw her brother down the stairs.

"They took out a kitchen knife and stabbed him in the neck," she said. "His friends ran away because the guys who did it are in a gang."

Cops didn't immediately confirm that the dispute was over a $10 cover fee. There were no arrests and the investigation was ongoing, cops said.

About 50 family members and friends gathered at the teen's Bryant Ave. home yesterday where a makeshift memorial was created with candles and photos.

The mourners wore T-shirts and laminated photos of the teen, whose nickname was "Cheese" because of his frequent smile, family members said.

She said Martinez was working toward getting his GED and planned to join the Army next year after he turned 18. He leaves behind a pregnant girlfriend.

Vargas said most people weren't talking to cops because they were scared.

"I'm an eyewitness. I saw everything," she said.

The victim's cousin, Aixa Soltren, 22, pleaded for other witnesses to contact cops.

"We just want whoever knows something to come forward," Soltren said. "Anybody who was there at the party should come forward."

"He was very loved," his sister, Amanda Martinez, 23, said. "We are all devastated."


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