2nd man arrested after NJ dad allegedly killed over pair of sneakers

JERSEY CITY — A second suspect in the alleged murder of a father of 11 — an altercation authorities and family members say started over a pair of sneakers — has been arrested.

Nasiar Day, 19, was charged by Hudson County Prosecutor Hazel Suarez with first-degree murder on Thursday for the slaying of Jose Malave, who was found dead in his home on Tuesday. A 17-year-old male from Jersey City was arrested earlier in the case.

Suarez said in a statement that Day was captured on Broad Street in Newark without incident on Thursday night.

Malave, 30, was found stabbed to death in the doorway of his Palisade Avenue apartment on Tuesday evening.

NBC New York quoted unnamed law enforcement sources saying Malave had been seen wearing a jacket and sneakers belonging to the 17-year-old's friend, after those items had been left on a sidewalk during an eviction. It said someone apparently sold the items to Malave after they'd been picked up.

According to that account, the 17-year-old and a friend confronted Malave, demanding he give the items back, but he refused. It wasn't clear if the friend was Day. After that, Malave was stabbed to death, the unnamed sources told NBC.

That account is somewhat different from one by the Jersey Journal, citing family members. Malave's sister, Yesinia, told the paper that earlier in the day, some teens tried to rob Malave's 8-year-old son of a pair of sneakers. They came back later in the day to the home, thinking the family would have other nice things, and Malave was killed defending his son, she reportedly said.

The family posted a petition at change.org seeking to make sure the suspects in Malave's death are not released from jail on lesser charges.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ.