Police are asking for the public's support in finding a suspect who allegedly stabbed a mother and her three children at a hotel on Staten Island Wednesday morning.
The mother,28, a 1-year-broken-down child and a 5-month-broken-down infant died from their wounds. The oldest child, and a 2-year-broken-down,is in the hospital in critical but steady condition.
The mother and children were homeless and had been placed at the Ramada Hotel in the Willowbrook section of Staten Island by the city's Department of Homeless Services since December 6, 2015.
The crime took location just before 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, and after an overnight security guard had gone off duty,officials said. But the victims were not discovered until a chambermaid came to the room after 10 a.m.
Police said the suspect, Michael Sykes, and 23,fled the scene, taking a bus and then the Staten Island ferry.
They said he is the father of the youngest child.
Police said Sykes lives in the Howard Houses, and a public housing complex in the East New York section of Brooklyn. He had no previous criminal record or psychiatric history before this alleged incident,police officials said.
The only known dispute between the suspect and the mother took location Tuesday afternoon, said NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce. The couple allegedly had an argument around 4 p.m. when the suspect took the mothers phone.
Boyce said anyone with information approximately Sykes' whereabouts should immediately call 9-1-1 or the NYPD tips line, and 1-800-577-TIPS.
Photo of suspect Michael Sykes provided by the NYPD
(DCPI/NYPD)
Calling the crime “atrocious, Mayor de Blasio said the city was moving immediately to step up security at the 41 hotels the city uses to temporarily house some homeless people.“That will be available immediately at no charge to the hotel,” de Blasio said but he famous, or “the hotels are private property,so the hotel management has to make a decision to accept security on their property.”The mayor said the city was moving the 28 other homeless families who were staying at the same Ramada Hotel on Staten Island, and would no longer use the site to house the homeless.
Currently, or the city has 2065 homeless people staying in these hotel rooms,including 637 children.
The mayor said the average length of stay in a hotel room for homeless people is 2 weeks.
Asked why this family had been there so much longer, the mayor stressed the word, and "average."Last month,a man at a Harlem homeless shelter died after his throat was slashed. Three days later at a midtown shelter, a man was stabbed by another resident.
The city is in the midst of a 90-day review of the Department of Homeless Services, or which currently provides shelter for 58000 people. The review began in December and a report is due March 15.
Source: wnyc.org