Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg last month announced the guilty plea of Trevon Murphy, 42, for stabbing three homeless individuals, including one fatally, who were sleeping on benches outside in July 2022.
Murphy — who himself was homeless at the time of the attacks — pleaded guilty to one count of murder in the second degree and two counts of attempted murder in the second degree. He will be sentenced to 30 years-to-life in state prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision. He is expected to be sentenced on Feb. 28.
“Trevon Murphy brutally murdered one unhoused individual and critically injured two others in a series of late-night attacks,” Bragg said. “Those who are unhoused already face extreme hardships and vulnerability, and their safety should not be in jeopardy.”
According to court documents, video surveillance, statements made on the record and the defendant’s guilty plea, on July 5, 2022, Murphy approached a man sleeping on a bench inside Hudson River Park near Christopher Street around 3:09 a.m. The victim told responding officers that he had been sleeping when he felt a sharp pain in his lower right abdomen and saw a man running away from him. The victim died soon after being admitted to Bellevue Hospital.
Four days later, the second victim was sleeping on a bench at the northeast corner of E. 49th Street and Madison Avenue. At around 11 p.m., Murphy approached him and sat on an opposite bench. Murphy stared at the victim for about 20 minutes, then stabbed him in the lower abdomen with a large knife before fleeing.
On July 11, 2022, the third victim was sleeping on top of his clothes on a basketball court at 96th Street between First and Second Avenues. Around 3:33 a.m., Murphy stabbed him in the abdomen with a knife.
Murphy later told officers that he chose the same target location on each victim, the lower abdomen, calling it the “stabber’s choice.”
As for the attacker’s motive in attacking the homeless men, prosecutors never stated anything on the record.
D.A. Bragg thanked police detectives involved in cracking the case, including Detective Rafael Perez from the 6th Precinct Detective Squad.
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