Queens community reeling after 8-year-old boy's stabbing death: "What did we miss?"
NEW YORK -- The Jamaica, Queens community is reeling after an 8-year-old boy was stabbed to death inside his apartment Thursday.
Police say a 20-year-old man, believed to be the victim's half-brother, killed the child and attacked his parents during a dispute.
Authorities say just after 5 p.m. Thursday, they got a desperate call saying a 20-year-old man had stabbed his 8-year-old half- brother and the boy's 29-year-old mother in the back. Police say she ran bleeding out of the apartment calling for help while her 43-year-old husband struggled to fend off the 20-year-old son inside.
"He had his father in a headlock over the kitchen sink, knife to his throat. Cops behind. They gave at least four commands, both in English and in Spanish, to drop the knife. He does not," NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said.
The New York City Police Department says an officer fired a single shot, striking the 20-year-old. He was taken to a local hospital, where he died. The 8-year-old was also rushed to the hospital but did not survive.
Police say there was also an 8-month-old baby girl inside the apartment, who was unharmed.
The New York Attorney General's Office of Special Investigation has opened an investigation into the 20-year-old's death, which is standard procedure for all officer-involved shootings.
Neighbors say they never saw signs of trouble from family
Neighbors brought balloons and placed stuffed animals and candles in the lobby of their 94th Avenue apartment building Friday to pay tribute to the child.
"He was so jolly. He was so happy. Like, that's a little boy that's a regular active 8-year-old, you know, jumping around, so happy. He loved his mother," one neighbor said.
"It's a devastating day for the whole building," neighbor Syesha Danielle said.
Another neighbor says the parents and young children were always friendly.
"Happy, happy. Anytime you seen them, smiling," the neighbor said.
But they said the 20-year-old half-brother was much more distant.
"He never smiled. He always had a serious face. Never interacted with nobody," the neighbor said.
Neighbors tell us they never saw or heard any signs of trouble or suspicious activity at the apartment; they say if they had, they would have tried to help.
"When you don't hear anything going on with the family and then something like this happens, it's like, what'd we miss?" one person said.
Friday afternoon, police continued to secure the fifth-floor apartment -- now a crime scene. It's just steps down the hall from a children's playroom where neighbors say the 8-year-old would play. Now they say seeing it brings them to tears.
