A 61-year-old man savagely beaten on the street on Christmas Eve while defending his boyfriend over 76p has died in hospital.
Juan Fresnada was battered so badly as he walked down the street in the Bronx neighbourhood of New York he suffered swelling to his brain and a fractured skull.
The brutal attack took place at around 1.30am while walking with his 29-year-old partner Bayron Caceres.
His attackers allegedly took $1 from Mr Fresnada after leaving him seriously injured, US media reports.
He was was rushed to hospital but he died yesterday, four days on from the attack.
Mr Caceres said his partner protected him from the attackers, who are described as young black males, and was beaten for "10 to 15 minutes".
He said: "My husband tried to defend me. The guy had his fist ready like he was ready to attack me. My husband said, "don’t you get close to him!"
Police have released stills from CCTV footage which show the sickening attack to try to identify the suspects.
Fresnada was rushed to the hospital but he was pronounced dead on Saturday, four days after the assault.
One of the attackers is said to have been wearing a red head scarf and grey jacket.
Mr Caceres said the attack started after they came out of a McDonald's restaurant and one of the attackers demanded money from them.
He said they tried to flee and walked into a deli but more men then joined the robbers and they were then attacked the in the street.
He then ran for help and when he returned he discovered his boyfriend was seriously injured.
He said: "They were beating him for 10 or 15 minutes.
"I went back and found him on the floor. He was breathing heavily and bleeding from his head.
"I tried to give him CPR but then a guy said I should stop because of how heavily he was breathing."
