Brian Dowling, 18, allegedly attacked, killed Ryan Carson for no reason
New York man stabbed to death
A man was stabbed and killed on Lafayette Avenue and Malcolm X Boulevard Oct. 2, 2023, in New York. (Obtained by the NY Post)
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 Oct. 2 caught-on-camera murder of Ryan Carson in front of his girlfriend, Claudia Morales, 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.
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Brian Dowling, left, is charged with the random slaying of NYC poet and activist Ryan Carson. (Greg Mango via Pool/NO OD NY campaign)
"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."
After Dowling was arrested Thursday, he sobbed as he was escorted from the 81st Precinct to a waiting police cruiser. Once inside the car, the tears continued to roll down his face.
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Ryan Carson, 31, was stabbed to death Monday in Brooklyn in a random attack hours after he and his girlfriend attended a wedding. (X/New York Post )
That night he appeared before Judge Joshua Click in Brooklyn Criminal Court, glancing at his shaken parents in the gallery.
Dowling is accused of knifing 31-year-old Carson "without provocation" at a Brooklyn bus stop early Monday, Assistant District Attorney Jordan Rossman told the court, the New York Post reported.
Montgomery argued that his client has no criminal record, isn't a flight risk and deserves bail, which Glick denied.
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Investigators executed a search warrant on Dowling's home and recovered clothing that matched the outfit the suspect was wearing in the footage, Rossman said.
Two witnesses positively identified Dowling as Carson’s killer in a photo array. The victim's girlfriend failed to pick Dowling, the prosecutor said.
Brian Dowling leaves the 81st Precinct after being arrested for murder, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. Dowling is accused of stabbing 31-year-old Ryan Carson around 4 a.m. Monday at the corner of Ralph Avenue and Quincy Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Gregory P. Mango/Pool)
The shocking footage that has gone viral shows the couple sitting on a bus stop bench on Lafayette Avenue near Malcolm X Boulevard chatting a little before 4 a.m.
After a man strolls by them, they stand up and begin walking in the same direction, wearing their formal attire from the wedding they'd just attended on Long Island.
After the man kicks over some scooters near the curb, he suddenly turns to Carson. "What the f--- are you looking at?" he said. "I'll kill you."
Carson steps in between his girlfriend and the man, holds up his hand and calmly tells him, "Chill! Chill!"
The assailant then pulls a knife and lunges at Carson, who trips and falls to the ground and stabs him three times, puncturing his heart.
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The killer turns to Morales, spits in her face then kicks Dowling, who is curled up on the sidewalk mortally wounded.
Dowling allegedly fled as Morales kneeled beside her boyfriend and called 911, but Carson was already dead.
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A GoFundMe page has raised more than $71,000 for Morales and Carson's friends to take time off work to mourn.
"We are a collective of Ryan's close friends, reeling from a brutal loss," the page says. "We are asking for your help on behalf of his partner in easing the burden and stress of this horrifying situation so that we can have space and time to grieve and remember Ryan. Immediate needs are to offset the costs of working-class people taking time off of work to properly mourn."
Brian Dowling leaves the 81st Precinct after being arrested for murder Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. (Gregory P. Mango/Pool)
Carson worked as a senior solid waste campaign manager at the New York Public Interest Research Group, according to his LinkedIn. He also created the campaign NO OD NY to address the crisis of overdose deaths.
Mayor Eric Adams and Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., with whom Carson had worked on the Inflation Reduction Act, posted tributes to the community activist on social media.
Dowling is due back in court Oct. 11.
Rebecca Rosenberg is a veteran journalist and book author with a focus on crime and criminal justice. Email tips to
