Judge finds Abel Cedeno guilty on all counts in Bronx classroom stabbing death

THE BRONX, N.Y. -- (WPIX) -- A judge found Abel Cedeno guilty on all counts Monday afternoon in the 2017 Bronx classroom stabbing death of a classmate.

Cedeno, 19, was tried in front of a judge instead of a jury. He was charged with manslaughter, assault and weapon possession. Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark called the stabbing a "true tragedy."

“In a matter of seconds, the defendant took out his knife and stabbed two students in front of a crowded classroom, killing 15-year-old Matthew McCree and critically wounding Ariane Laboy, then 16," Clark said. "The incident has forever traumatized the young students and school faculty who watched in horror the violence that unfolded that morning."

Cedeno's defense team argued what he did inside the Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation in September of 2017 was self defense. His attorneys said he brought the knife he used in the incident for protection after being bullied.

But according to trial testimony, McCree and Laboy didn't know or socialize with Cedeno before the Sept. 27 incident.