Man sentenced to 25 years to life for stabbing 3 homeless men in Manhattan

By Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN

(CNN) — A 42-year-old man was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for a string of stabbing attacks on homeless people in New York City that left one dead and two critically injured in the summer of 2022.

Trevon Murphy pleaded guilty in January to one count of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder for the attacks on the three men, who were sleeping outside in the city.

“New Yorkers who face the painful and difficult experience of being unhoused shouldn’t have to simultaneously fear for their safety,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a news release Wednesday.

CNN has reached out to Murphy’s attorney for comment.

The first attack was on July 5, 2022, when Murphy stabbed a person sleeping on a bench inside Hudson River Park shortly after 3 a.m. The victim died soon after being admitted to Bellevue Hospital, the release said.

On July 9, Murphy sat across from a man sleeping on a bench in Midtown Manhattan and watched him for 20 minutes before stabbing him with a large knife and fleeing the scene, the district attorney said.

The final attack took place around 3:30 a.m. on July 11, when Murphy stabbed a man sleeping in a basketball court around the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the release said.

Murphy told officers he specifically targeted the lower abdomen of each victim, calling it the “stabber’s choice,” according to Bragg.

Then-NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said at the time Murphy was wanted on an outstanding warrant in Tennessee and should not have been on the streets when the attacks took place.

Murphy was arrested on July 13, 2022. He had a knife in his pants pocket when he was taken into custody, police said.

Murphy allegedly assaulted another homeless person in the Queens shelter where he was staying in April 2022, NYPD Chief Joseph Kenny told reporters at the time of Murphy’s arrest.

“While today’s sentence will not bring back an innocent life lost and cannot undo the pain two New Yorkers face, I hope it provides a sense of comfort and closure,” Bragg said Wednesday.

CNN’s Mark Morales contributed to this report.

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