Suspect in Stabbings Due in Massachusetts Court

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The New York Sun

The man who went on a 13-hour stabbing spree in Manhattan was supposed to appear in a Massachusetts courtroom on loitering charges at the same time New York City police were charging him in the attacks that left four people wounded.

Kenny Alexis, 20, was scheduled to appear Wednesday in Dorchester District Court for a pre-trial hearing stemming from being arrested February 4 for loitering on a woman’s front porch in a Boston suburb. Just as local police were charging him in the stabbings, officials in Massachusetts – apparently unaware that Mr. Alexis was in custody – were preparing to file a warrant to arrest Mr. Alexis for skipping Wednesday’s court appearance.

Police officers arrested Mr. Alexis around 4:15 a.m. Wednesday and charged him in the string of violent attacks. Mr. Alexis was arraigned yesterday in Manhattan Criminal Court on four counts of second-degree attempted murder, four counts of first-degree assault, two counts of first-degree robbery, and two counts of first-degree attempted robbery. He could face up to 60 years in prison if convicted of all charges, prosecutors said.

According to police, Mr. Alexis’s prior criminal history in New York includes arrests for attempted assault and harassment. His last interaction with police before the stabbings occurred just hours prior to the first attack, when police said transit officers ticketed him at a Times Square subway station after he jumped the turnstile.

Massachusetts officials said Mr. Alexis was ordered on May 15 to appear in court Wednesday for a hearing related to the February 4 incident, one of three arrests in the past five months. Prior to that, Mr. Alexis was arrested on March 22 at Logan Airport for shoplifting, disorderly conduct, and trespassing. He also was arrested on March 23 for vandalizing a car in East Boston.

In addition to his arrest record, officials indicated Mr. Alexis skipped court appearances several times, and they indicated he might have been taking an undisclosed medication.

According to the criminal complaint here, Mr. Alexis admitted responsibility for four separate attacks, which started Tuesday afternoon when he allegedly stabbed a Texan tourist on a C train at the 110th Street stop.

Nearly 12 hours later, he allegedly stabbed a man on the F train platform at Rockefeller Center after trying to take the victim’s cell phone, and then threatened two employees of a West Side deli, the complaint said. Shortly thereafter, he attacked two young Canadian women in Duffy Square just a few blocks from Times Square.

Police captured Mr. Alexis as he was leaving a McDonald’s store on Seventh Avenue at 47th Street following that assault, after the two women staggered to a nearby hotel where security personnel called 911.

Police said they initially linked Mr. Alexis to the crimes by using a police lineup, and based on eyewitness accounts of the eight-inch knife he allegedly used in the attacks.

Even as New York officials were dealing with his most recent offenses, a judge in Boston issued a new warrant for Mr. Alexis yesterday because of his failed court appearance Wednesday, according to a spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney, David Procopio.

In a statement, Mr. Procopio said Mr. Alexis underwent a 20-day mental health evaluation at a Massachusetts mental facility, Bridgewater State Hospital, and in a separate court-ordered evaluation was found to be “limited but not mentally ill.”

Mr. Alexis’ Legal Aid Society attorney reportedly asked for a psychiatric evaluation for him.

Yesterday, three of his victims remained hospitalized, including the Texan tourist, who was listed in stable but still critical condition.


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