Staten Island stabbing suspect arraigned on 3 counts of murder

Sunday, February 14, 2016
Staten Island stabbing suspect arraigned on 3 counts of murder
Mallory Hoff has more from St. George.

ST. GEORGE, Staten Island -- A fugitive suspected of stabbing his girlfriend and all three of her small children with a kitchen knife in a brutal attack at a Staten Island hotel used as homeless housing was arraigned on Sunday.

Michael Sykes, captured after a four-day manhunt, pleaded not guilty and was remanded to Rikers Island. He is due back in court on Tuesday.

On Saturday night, police walked Sykes out of the precinct. Sykes was taken into custody on Saturday afternoon near 31st Street in Queens.

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Detectives were watching the location, and made the arrest around 4 p.m. Sykes is accused of killing Rebecca Cutler, her 19-month-old daughter, and her 5-month-old daughter. Sykes is now charged with three counts of murder, attempted murder, and robbery.

Police say Sykes stabbed the mother of his child and her three daughters in a Staten Island hotel Wednesday morning, killing the woman and two of the girls.

Michael Sykes was last seen on surveillance footage Wednesday heading to the Staten Island Ferry shortly after the fatal attack, and a call to his mother to say he'd killed his girlfriend and was going to kill himself, police said. But he took the ferry back to Manhattan and had been traveling through Brooklyn and Queens.

Meanwhile family members Thursday rallied around the only one to survive the quadruple stabbing.

The 2-year-old, aptly named 'Miracle', is recovering from extensive stab wounds to her abdomen at Richmond University Medical Center. Miracle currently remains in critical condition.

One cousin said, "Pray for us." "They're taking it hard, really hard," said the victims' uncle, James Mathis. With the suspect still at large, relatives were escorted in and out by NYPD officers.

Police say 26-year-old Rebecca Cutler was stabbed more than 30 times in the back by her 23-year-old boyfriend.

Cutler also had a one-year-old named Ziana who died, along with four-month-old Maiyah.

After Sykes' arrest, Mayor Bill deBlasio released a statement saying,

"Thanks goes to the hard-working officers of the NYPD for bringing Mr. Sykes into custody. The judicial process can now begin to run its course. I hope the family members of the young mother and her small children can find some amount of closure in knowing he has been apprehended."