Brooklyn stabbing suspect charged, arraigned
EAST NEW YORK, N.Y. (WABC) -- The suspect in the stabbing death of an East New York boy and the assault of his young friend headed to his arraignment Thursday night amid a chorus of onlookers.
Police arrested 27-year-old Daniel St. Hubert Wednesday night in Queens, and on Thursday he was charged with second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, and first-degree assault, as well as weapons charges and graffiti charges.
Around 9 p.m. Thursday, St. Hubert was brought from the 90th Precinct where he is being held, to an arraignment which did not get underway until later in the evening. St. Hubert is accused of stabbing two children Sunday night in East New York, P.J. Avitto, 7, who died, and P.J.'s friend, Mikayla Capers, 7, who remains hospitalized.(Photo above)
As St. Hubert emerged from the station, he faced the glare of camera lights and the screams of hecklers. "You tried to kill little kids!," screamed one person.
For a brief moment, St. Hubert appeared to wink. Onlooker Reggie Thomas said he saw no remorse. "You didn't see any sorrow, any sadness, it was just a regular day for him.
At the arraignment, St. Hubert was ordered remanded. He will be back in court Friday.
Prosecutors said there is strong evidence of guilt in the stabbings of P.J. and Mikayla. According to the prosecutor, eyewitnesses saw St. Hubert enter the building with both children and a few minutes later the suspect ran out, falling at first then continuing to run. They also have the bloody knife recovered from the scene.
Regenia Trevathan, Mikayla's great grandmother, said Thursday night that the young girl is still recovering. "Mikayla is alive by the grace of God. She's alive and we have a long, long way to go"
In the faces and the voices of the little boy's family, the relief Thursday was obvious. The suspect was arrested moments after the mayor and the police commissioner made a public appeal, naming St. Hubert. When St. Hubert was captured, he had an 8-inch kitchen knife in his waistband.
"I want to thank the NYPD," said Nicholas Avitto, the father of the P.J., on Wednesday.
He is a lifelong criminal with nine arrests, including one related to allegedly trying to strangle his mother with a telephone cord. He was paroled May 23, nine days before the children were attacked.
The New York City Police Department is also questioning St. Hubert in the murder of an 18-year-old two nights earlier also in East New York, and he is the main suspect in a stabbing Wednesday at a subway station in Chelsea.
"We are certainly looking at other incidents. I think there is some real evidence regarding this incident in the Chelsea that he might have had an involvement. I think the important thing here that this is a heinous and horrible and tragic crime," said Mayor de Blasio.
