NYPD Arrests Suspect in Child's Stabbing Death

Police in New York City arrested a 27-year-old man tonight accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy and injuring his 7-year-old playmate over the weekend, reports Gothamist. Daniel St. Hubert is in custody, the arrest made soon after police publicly identified him as a suspect. As the Daily News explains, the break in the case came when investigators matched DNA found on a knife left at the scene with the state's criminal database. Hubert has a long criminal record for offenses including assault and had been paroled on May 23, reports the New York Times.

Police haven't called him a suspect in another fatal stabbing that occurred just two nights earlier, but the investigation is continuing. The same brand of knife—a model discontinued 10 years ago—was left behind in the slaying of 18-year-old Tanaya Copeland, and the man seen fleeing that scene had the same general description as Hubert. The 6-year-old boy who was killed, PJ Avitto, had gotten into an elevator with friend Mikayla Capers in their Brooklyn housing complex before being attacked. Mikayla remains in critical condition. (More NYPD stories.)