Bronx

NYC Homeowner Indicted in Metal Rod Beating Death of Man Wife Saw in Backyard

Troy George came out to confront the victim, Harold Bates, and Bates fled. George chased him and allegedly beat him to death with a metal rod he found in the alley

What to Know

  • A Bronx homeowner has been indicted on manslaughter charges for allegedly beating a man to death his wife saw in their backyard
  • Troy George came out to confront the victim, Harold Bates, and Bates fled. George chased him and allegedly beat him to death with metal rod
  • Authorities say Bates had nothing on him at the time he was killed and never went into George's house; he was 29 years old

A 54-year-old Bronx man has been indicted on a charge of first-degree manslaughter after chasing a man and beating him to death in an alley earlier this year — all because his wife spotted the victim in their backyard.

Troy George's wife saw the victim, 20-year-old Harold Bates, in their yard around midnight Sept. 29 and told her husband. George then came out of the house and confronted Bates, who ran off. George chased him down the street and hit him 10 times in the head and body with a metal rod he grabbed at the scene, according to prosecutors and court documents.

Bates died a few hours later. 

The initial 911 call came in about a robbery in progress on East 223rd Street in Wakefield, but investigators found Bates had nothing on him and hadn't been inside the house, authorities have said.

George is due back in court in February. The name of his attorney wasn't immediately clear.

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