A Yonkers barber who slashed a romantic rival in his shop has been convicted of reckless assault but acquitted of the top charge that carried a mandatory prison term.
Jeury Fernandez-Navarro, 38, was found guilty Tuesday, Aug. 18, of second-degree assault, a felony, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a misdemeanor. The jury found him not guilty of first-degree assault.
He faces up to seven years in prison but could also get probation. Had he been convicted on the top charge alleging an intentional assault, Fernandez-Navarro would have faced a minimum prison term of five years and a maximum of 25 years.
Fernandez-Navarro and the victim had been friends for more than a year until the defendant suspected the other man had slept with
his girlfriend. On Aug. 4, 2025, Fernandez-Navarro was at Escape Barber Shop on South Broadway giving a young boy a haircut when the other man entered the shop. He sat in the chair of another barber, who began preparing to give him a haircut.
Jury sees video of incident
Video played multiple times for the jury showed Fernandez-Navarro grab a straight-edge blade from his counter, walk over to the other chair and pull the man's head back by his hair. As the man struggles he falls to the floor and the video shows Fernandez-Navarro yanking his arm up as he delivers a single slash to the man's arm.
Fernandez-Navarro dropped the knife and the two continued struggling, as they slipped on the victim's blood and out onto the sidewalk. Both claimed at trial that the other would not let go. The defendant testified that the victim had been disrespecting him and that he grabbed the razor hoping to get him to stop and the slashing was accidental.
The victim suffered a lacerated artery on his forearm, requiring extensive surgery, and still has scars and loss of strength in his hand and arm.
Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Strongin argued in his summation that the video made clear that the incident was an attack and not a fight as the defense claimed and that the slashing was an intentional act. He questioned why Fernandez-Navarro didn't immediately tell a police captain who arrived during the end of the struggle that it had been an accident and suggested that the defendant's effort to staunch the bleeding wasn't altruistic.
"If this was an accident, where's the regret? It's not on the video," Strongin said, adding that Fernandez-Navarro was unfazed by being covered in the victim's blood. "He suddenly gets helpful when he's caught."
Fernando-Navarro to be sentenced in September
But earlier defense lawyer Kimberly Almonte argued that her client's bad decision to grab the razor did not make the slashing intentional or reckless and there was ample reasonable doubt as to how and why the victim was cut.
She suggested it happened only when Fernandez-Navarro pulled his arm away as the victim held on to him.
"That clearly was an accident during a fast chaotic struggle," she said. "Jeury didn't want it to happen."
Fernandez-Navarro was indicted only on the first-degree assault and weapon charges. Westchester Judge George Fufidio granted the prosecution's request to add the lesser assault charge over the defense's objection.
Fernandez-Navarro remains held at the county jail until sentencing, which Fufidio scheduled for Sept. 24.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Yonkers barber found guilty of lesser charge in slashing of rival
