Mom Sues NYC Over Son’s Stabbing in Public Housing

The mother of a 6-year-old who was stabbed to death in a public housing complex elevator sued the city Thursday, saying officials let blatant security risks linger before the attack on her son and a 7-year-old friend.

A broken front door wasn’t fixed despite complaints, surveillance cameras weren’t installed although there was money to do so and officials let a volunteer tenant patrol lapse in an area with a history of crime, Prince Joshua “P.J.” Avitto’s mother said in the lawsuit.

“It’s as if [residents] are forgotten people,” said Jack Yankowitz, the attorney representing the boy’s mother, Aricka McClinton. Her Brooklyn state court lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, alhough a first-step legal document filed last summer sought $281 million.

Led by forensic evidence, police arrested Daniel St. Hubert, who had been released from prison only weeks before after serving a five-year sentence for choking his mother with an electrical cord and stealing her car.

This article appeared in print on page 4 of the May 11th, 2015 edition of Hamodia.