A child is dead and another is in critical condition after they were stabbed by an unidentified man in Brooklyn on Sunday, police said.
Prince Joshua Avitto, 6, and 7-year-old Mikayla Capers were in the elevator of a Schenck Avenue apartment building at around 6 p.m. when they were both stabbed, NBC News reported. Police say the attack appears to be random.
Both children were taken to Brookdale Hospital where they were treated for stab wounds to the torso. Avitto was later pronounced dead.
"He took my pride and joy away, he's my life, my rock that I lived for, my backbone and he took my light away from me" Avitto's father, Nicholas Avitto, told CBS New York. "I hope this guy is brought to justice."
Capers, the boy's friend, was transferred to New York-Presbyterian Hospital/ Weill Cornell Medical Center where she reportedly remains in critical condition with a collapsed lung.
The kids were playing outside the complex when a family member called them inside for a treat, CBS New York reported. But they never made it upstairs.
The assailant fled the scene after the stabbings at the Boulevard Houses complex. The suspect, described as a portly, black man in his 20s wearing a gray sweatshirt, used a steak knife in the attack, NBC News reported.
"He was last seen running eastbound through the development," Patrick Conry, chief of Brooklyn detectives, told CBS New York.
Police also do not know if the attack is related to another incident where an 18-year-old woman was stabbed to death on Friday near the same complex.
Prince Joshua Avitto, who was to turn 7 this month, was considered "the sweetest of boys" by his friends and family, NBC News reported.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the suspect.
"They were just going inside to get ices, that's it," Sophia Diaz, a family friend, told CBS New York. "Who could find it in their heart to go into an elevator and stab a 6 year old and a 7 year old?"
