NEW YORK (1010 WINS/ WCBS 880) – A man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to stabbing three homeless people -- killing one -- who were sleeping on benches outside, according to prosecutors.
Trevon Murphy, 42, admitted to approaching sleeping homeless people throughout July 2022 and stabbing them.
The first incident was on July 5, 2022, when Murphy approached a victim sleeping on a bench outside of Hudson River Park in Lower Manhattan at around 3 a.m., according to surveillance footage.
The victim told responding cops that he felt a sharp pain in his lower right abdomen while he was sleeping and then saw a man running away from him.
The victim was admitted to NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and died soon after.
The second victim was sleeping on a bench at the northeast corner of East 49th Street and Madison Avenue when Murphy approached him and sat on the opposite bench on July 9, 2022. Murphy then watched the victim for nearly 20 minutes and then stabbed the victim in the lower abdomen with a large knife.
The third victim was stabbed in the abdomen on July 11, 2022, while he was sleeping in a basketball court on 96th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues at around 3:30 a.m.
Murphy told officers that he would choose the same target location for each victim, the lower abdomen, which he called the “stabber’s choice.”
“Trevon Murphy brutally murdered one unhoused individual and critically injured two others in a series of late-night attacks,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. said. “Those who are unhoused already face extreme hardships and vulnerability, and their safety should not be in jeopardy.”
Murphy pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder.
He will be sentenced to 30 years-to-life in state prison, followed by 5 years of post-release supervision.
He is expected to be sentenced on Feb. 28.