New York City police have arrested the man they believe stabbed a 6-year-old boy to death and severely wounded a 7-year-old-girl in a public housing elevator, the Associated Press reports.
Daniel St. Hubert, 27, was arrested after 8 p.m. Wednesday in a Queens neighborhood just minutes after Mayor Bill de Blasio and the police commissioner publicly identified the suspect and asked the public for help in catching the man they believe fatally stabbed Prince Joshua Avitto and injured Mikayla Capers earlier this week.
According to the Associated Press, authorities provided no details on how St. Hubert was captured or how he was found so quickly after Wednesday's announcement.
AP reports that St. Hubert has a history of incarceration, having been arrested nine times including two arrests for assaulting a police officer. He served three years in jail and two in state prison for an attempted murder and assault conviction. He was paroled on May 23, according to state correction records viewed by AP.
Police told the AP that forensic evidence led to St. Hubert being sought by police. AP reports that the police did not provide a motive for the knife attack on the children.
On Sunday, Prince and Mikayla had been playing outside the Boulevard Houses while adults watched. Relatives and witnesses told AP that the two children ran inside to take the elevator back up their apartment when they were cornered by "a heavyset man in his 20s."
According to police who spoke with AP, a steak knife was used to stab each child multiple times and was left outside the building. Prince who has been reported to be a cousin of Chicago Bulls power forward Taj Gibson was found in the elevator, Mikayla just outside the building.
Police are also investigating whether St. Hubert is connected to the fatal stabbing of an 18-year-old woman on Friday. Tanaya Copeland was found four blocks from where the children were stabbed. AP reports that a similar knife was recovered near the scene of the Copeland stabbing.
Read more at the Associated Press.