A New York City man suspected of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy and critically wounding a 7-year-old girl pled not guilty at his arraignment on Wednesday, the New York Daily News reported.
Daniel St. Hubert, who has a history of mental illness and violence, allegedly stabbed Prince Joshua Avitto and his friend Mikayla Capers while riding in an elevator in a Brooklyn apartment complex on June 1. The kids were on their way up for a snack after playing outside.
St. Hubert fled the scene after the stabbings but was later arrested. He pled not guilty to charges of second degree murder, second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault, according to PIX 11.
St. Hubert, who reportedly was released from prison days before the attack, has a documented history of mental illness that dates back to 2009, when he was charged with trying to strangle his mother with an electrical cord.
That same year a psychiatrist determined St. Hubert was prone to violent behavior and was "severely and persistently mentally ill," the Daily News reported. He also attacked two corrections officers and was diagnosed with "a psychosis, nonspecific," by the city.
Upon his arrest for the stabbings, St. Hubert declared "Satan has powers and control things," the NYPD said according to the Daily News.
It is not clear why St. Hubert was released from prison on May 23.
At the Wednesday hearing, grieving family members blamed the city for releasing a mentally ill man onto the streets.
"To come here for this is something no family should go through," Aricka McClinton, Avitto's mother, said according to the Daily News. "This monster, this freak, who did this to kids. The correction system let this fool out of jail without medicine. There has to be something...to stop them from killing kids."
Capers is now recovering at the home of a family member.
Defense attorneys are expected to enter an insanity plea for St. Hubert when he appears in court on Aug. 8, according to PIX 11.
