Gothamist

A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.

Gothamist

WNYC Listen Live

Donate

News

Suspect Accused Of Stabbing Brooklyn Children Says, "I Didn't Do It"

Jen Chung

Published Jun 8, 2014

Modified Jun 8, 2014

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

Never miss a story

Email address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .

Jen Chung

Published Jun 8, 2014

Modified Jun 8, 2014

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

We rely on your support to make local news available to all

Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

While the seven-year-old girl who was brutally stabbed in an elevator last week remains hospitalized, her accused attacker is apparently proclaiming his innocence.

Mikayla Capers is at New York-Presbyterian, recovering from multiple stab wounds, and her aunt told the Post, "She has not talked about what happened... It is too soon right now."

Last Sunday, just before 6 p.m., police say Daniel St. Hubert, 27, stabbed Capers and her cousin, Prince Joshua "P.J." Avitto, 6, 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 from his wounds and was mourned at a funeral on Friday.

It's also believed that St. Hubert is involved in the fatal May 30th stabbing of 18-year-old Tanaya Grant Copeland, also in East New York, and the June 4th stabbing of a man at the West 18th Street subway station in Manhattan. St. Hubert was found, after a huge police manhunt, in Queens on Thursday, scrawling "$ Killzz I will B" with a smiley face on a stop sign. He was carrying a knife.

St. Hubert has numerous arrests and was just released on parole on May 23rd, after serving five years for choking his mother. He was transferred to Bellevue Hospital yesterday, and the Daily News reports:

[His sister Judith Perry] said he appeared lucid and only had one thing on his mind — clearing his name.

“I didn’t do it,” he told his sister.

“He’s managing,” said the 29-year-old Perry, who believes the city Department of Correction sent her brother to Bellevue because of his “documented mental illness.”
“He’s hanging on, but he says he can’t take this too long because he knows he’s innocent,” she said.

St. Hubert claimed the guards transporting him to the hospital abused him by banging his head against the wall and tightening the cuffs until they hurt him.

“His hand is swollen,” Perry said. “He doesn’t like the situation he’s in. He feels it’s unfair that they are ... judging him guilty without even giving him a fair trial.”

However, police linked him to the crimes after finding his DNA at the crime scene. The Wall Street Journal reported, "The city Office of the Medical Examiner received the knife Sunday and spent about 36 hours processing the DNA—considered to be a fast turnaround, a second law-enforcement official said. The DNA lifted from the knife was uploaded into a state offender registry, the official said. A match was found on Wednesday and turned over to the NYPD."

And Prince Joshua's brother, Sharod Jean-Pierre, told the News, “[Hubert's] still gonna be able to eat, sleep, talk to people. My little brother isn’t going to be able to do that anymore. I want him to stay at Rikers. I want him to suffer.”

Tagged

daniel st. hubert

east new york

fatal stabbing

mikayla capers

Prince Joshua Avitto

stabbing

Tanaya Grant Copeland

Jen Chung

Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

MORE news

Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn

Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.

Rosemary Misdary

Published Oct 16, 2026

Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say

A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.

Samantha Max

News

Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say

A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.

Samantha Max

Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time

David Brand

School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year

Jessica Gould

NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them

Clayton Guse

Never miss a story

Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.

Sign upEmail address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .