A brute on the loose since allegedly beating a homeless man to death was caught when cops stopped him for drinking in public on a Bronx street, prosecutors and sources said.
Jorrell Shoals, 37 – whose last known address is in White Bear Lake, Minnesota – was picked up Tuesday evening when cops spotted him with a alcoholic drink in public, according to cops and sources.
The petty offense alone would have landed Shoals with a criminal court summons – but police dug into his background and realized he was wanted for the deadly, random June 23 attack on Ramon Cruz, 54, prosecutors and sources said.
Cruz was sleeping on the sidewalk on Willis Avenue near East 149th Street in Mott Haven around 11 p.m. when Shoals allegedly stormed up to him, prosecutors said.
He then delivered a flurry of blows – socking Cruz multiple times in the head with both fists, causing him to hit his head on the ground, the Bronx DA’s Office said.
Cruz was rushed to Lincoln Medical Center, where days later he suffered seizures and ended up in a coma, the DA’s office said.
He died at the hospital on July 17 from complications of blunt force trauma, prosecutors said.
“The defendant allegedly approached a man who was sleeping and started punching him repeatedly in the head, for no apparent reason,” Bronx DA Darcel D. Clark said. “The victim suffered severe injuries and he was in a coma before passing away from his injuries.”
Shoals – who has no prior arrests, according to police – was arraigned on charges of second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter, the DA’s Office said.
He was ordered held without bail and ordered to return to court on Dec. 19.
