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Suspect In Stabbing Of Brooklyn Boy: The Devil Made Me Do It
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 6, 2014
Modified Jun 6, 2014
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 6, 2014
Modified Jun 6, 2014
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The man accused of brutally stabbing and killing a six-year-old child and wounding a seven-year-old in a Brooklyn elevator appeared in court last night. Daniel St. Hubert, 27, was charged with murder in the second degree, attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon. He was also charged with making graffiti and possession of a graffiti instrument—when St. Hubert, in a huge police manhunt, was arrested in Queens, police found him writing on a stop sign, "$ Killzz I will B" with a smiley face.
On Sunday just before 6 p.m., police say St. Hubert, 27, stabbed Prince Joshua "P.J." Avitto, 6, and Mikayla Capers, 7, in a building elevator at the Boulevard Houses on Schenk Avenue in East New York. Both children, who were headed to get ices, were stabbed repeatedly. P.J. died at the hospital while Mikayla survived—she is unable to speak, but she is responsive.
It's also believed that St. Hubert may be involved in the fatal Friday night stabbing of 18-year-old Tanaya Grant Copeland, also in East New York, as well as the Wednesday stabbing of a man at the West 18th Street subway station in Manhattan. Mayor de Blasio said that St. Hubert has "severe mental health problems...it is not clear why they were not caught earlier... This is a fundamental American problem."
St. Hubert had been out on parole since his May 23rd release from prison, where he served five years for choking his mother with an electrical cord. From the NY Times:
The suspect was treated and counseled during his time in jail. It took three years before he was deemed capable of understanding the charges against him and facing trial. He received psychiatric evaluation before he was released, a standard procedure.
At the same time, according to two officials who would not speak publicly, citing medical privacy, Mr. St. Hubert’s crimes would not have met the criteria for what is known as Kendra’s Law, which would have required him to receive mandatory care upon his release. It was unclear if Mr. St. Hubert received care after leaving prison.
, "Daniel St. Hubert’s parole officer told cops she warned her bosses that the alleged kid killer was dangerous and needed to be in a mental hospital — but nothing was ever done, The Post has learned. Officer Roxanne Marie, 60, cried uncontrollably when cops told her Wednesday night that he was arrested on charges of killing a little boy and stabbing his playmate in a Brooklyn elevator — and she told the detectives she feared he was out of his mind. 'I recommended that he be institutionalized,' Marie said, according to a source." Marie told the Post she was not allowed to discuss the matter, but there doesn't seem to be any formal recommendation.
St. Hubert's sister told the Post, “We tried to get him to get help, we knew he had mental illness. When he was released, they didn’t give him any kind of psychiatric evaluations or anything like that. They basically just sent him on his way." She says they also told her that it would "take weeks for him to see a doctor."
The suspect allegedly told a homeless shelter manager on Sunday, "I did bad things... The devil made me do it."
Tagged
brooklyn
daniel st. hubert
east new york
fatal stabbing
mental illness
mikayla capers
Prince Joshua Avitto
stabbing
Tanaya Grant Copeland
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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