By The Diary
Aug 16, 2024, 11:11 AM EDT
Monte McEvilley was stabbed in the heart by his upstairs neighbor when he came down to complain about a water leak in a building in Times Square, a world-famous tourist and theater mecca.
Kevin Young, 39, was charged as a suspect in the deadly fight that happened around 12:53 a.m. July 9 inside a public housing facility in Midtown Manhattan. He pleaded not guilty Monday and was held in custody and is due back in court Friday, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said.
McEvilley was 55, a father of two, and a double partial amputee in a New York City subway accident.
McEvilley’s wife, who was separated from him but remained close, told Daily News The family was “devastated”. More than a month later “We are still in pain,” said Lorraine McEvilley, 60. “The boys are just devastated. He was a wonderful father and despite his disabilities he saw them quite often. He was always in their lives and was very involved and very loving and caring.”
The last time she spent time with him was two days before he was killed. “We did things as a family, we did things with the boys… He came to be with my daughter and we had a very nice day.”
In a statement, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the victim was “completely unarmed” during the brutal stabbing.
All charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
In December 2022, a man died after falling from the same building, which has been managed since 1991 by the non-profit organization “Breaking Ground” (formerly known as Common Ground).
Violence between neighbours has claimed several victims recently in New York. Last week, a church choir singer was stabbed to death on a Brooklyn street in an apparent neighbourhood dispute.
At the end of July, a Hispanic man died after being seriously hospitalized with blows caused by a chair during a neighborhood fight in Queens. In April of last year, the couple Arturo Cuevas (30) and Daisy Barrera (27) were arrested and charged with attempted murder as suspects for the brutal attack on their neighbor Wilson Chabla Lliguicota (28) in an alleged fight over a parking space.
In March 2023, a woman stabbed her neighbor, a 27-year-old father of two, to death during an alleged argument over noise in a building in the Bronx.
In December 2022, a 46-year-old ex-convict turned himself in to police on suspicion of fatally shooting his neighbor amid a lengthy argument over the noise he was making in their residence. Also that month, a 27-year-old model was stabbed to death by her roommate in a Midtown Manhattan shelter for allegedly listening to loud music.
Stabbings and slashings are common in New York City overall. There were 4,493 cases in 2023 through early December, a 6% increase over the same period in 2022. In parallel, arrests for knife crimes increased by almost 30%.
A previous NYPD report warned in August 2023 that fatal stabbings had risen 29% that year in the city compared to before the pandemic (2019). Knife attacks have become more frequent in various settings: streets, buildings, homes, buses, subways, parties, schools, and even commercial establishments and ATM areas.
If you are a victim or suspect that someone is being abused, especially if you are a minor or an elderly person:
Seek help
- Call 911, 988 or (800)-942-6906.
- Text “WELL” to 65173.
- Check information at https://nycwell.cityofnewyork.us/es/ and www.988lineadevida.org