Fatal Stabbing At YMCA In Worcester Ends In Guilty Verdict

WORCESTER, MA — A Worcester man charged in a 2016 fatal stabbing at a city YMCA was found guilty on a second-degree murder charge on Monday.

According to prosecutors, Jose Morales, 25, stabbed a 37-year-old Connecticut man in the chest in the parking lot of the Main Street YMCA building. Victim Lee Daniels was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The stabbing happened after Daniels and Morales exchanged words over Morales' girlfriend, according to news reports.

Morales was arrested about three months after the killing in October 2016 in Newark, NJ. He will be sentenced in the coming months, according to Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr.

“I want to thank the prosecution team of Assistant District Attorneys Tim Westerman and Connor Geraghty and Victim Witness Advocate James Pearson for their hard work on this case,” Early said in a Monday news release.