One dead, two injured in East Village stabbing

“Is that blood?” Oh my God, it's horrible.

This was one young woman's horrified reaction when she came across police tape marking the spot on East 14th Street near Avenue A, which just hours earlier had been the scene of a savage knife attack which claimed the life of a 38-year-old man and injured two others.

Police said a 30-year-old suspect, later identified as Alejandro Piedra, of Dewitt Avenue in Brooklyn, was taken into custody the night of the stabbing. A small knife was recovered by police at the scene.

Dried blood may be visible on the sidewalk.

A 38-year-old man was rushed to Bellevue Hospital after being stabbed in the neck, but succumbed to his injury. He was later identified as Clemson Coxfield.

Piedra was charged with murder for Coxfield's death.

A second victim, a 51-year-old woman, was stabbed in the leg and also transported to Bellevue Hospital where she was listed in critical condition.

A third victim, a 32-year-old man, was stabbed in the back and taken to Bellevue where police said he was in stable condition.

Police have not given a motive for the violence which broke out shortly before 6 p.m. on Sunday June 23. Piedra was charged with attempted murder for attacking the two injured victims.

The crime scene was just yards from the popular Trader Joe's and Domino's Pizza stores on E. 14th St.

The crime scene is across the street from the town of Stuyvesant. The south side of E. 14th St. has long been a source of complaints from neighborhood residents due to the increasing homeless population and unlicensed street vendors who have set up a bazaar on stands makeshift covers selling everything from canned goods to clothing to electronic equipment. .

A person who was filming the attack on the Citizen app on June 23 commented: “Comparing crime to New York today, it's like we're back in the 90s.”

Another commenter added: “The whole block on E. 14th St. between A and 1st is like a inner city in Los Angeles. »

Another commenter on the Citizen app added: “This is a sad day for the East Village. We should be united and not divided. Let's get justice for the victims and not focus on personal beliefs that could distract us from the most important thing: humanity.”

In January, a short distance from the scene of the June 23 fatal attack, John Mach, a caretaker at Immaculate Conception Church on E. 14th Street, was stabbed in the neck by a homeless man whom the worker tried to prevent urinating between the two. cars parked just outside the church during mass. Police arrested a suspect, identified as Robert Ortiz, a few days later at a homeless shelter in Bowery.

A Catholic elementary school adjacent to the church, which had operated since the Civil War, was forced to close its doors a year ago. Parish leaders said the sordid street bazaar outside the school likely contributed to the enrollment decline that began during the pandemic.

The church worker who was stabbed managed to get to Beth Israel Hospital with a bloody towel on his neck to stem the bleeding that ultimately required 18 stitches.

Mayor Eric Adams, at a town meeting in February, said he walked the blockade with a local police commander and called the area “disgusting” and vowed to clean it up.

Although police periodically clear the cluttered sidewalk of vendors, the makeshift bazaar usually returns within a few days.

During the latest incident, police had not yet revealed the identity of the victim of the fatal stabbing, while waiting to inform his next of kin.

The area was still guarded by more than half a dozen officers well into the evening, the night of the stabbing. “The investigation is ongoing,” said a sergeant at the scene. Our city.

City council member Carlina Rivera said in a statement:

“We are also upset that this area remains chaotic and neglected since the pandemic. I have personally been in contact with the NYPD, Bellevue Hospital, the Department of Sanitation, the Manhattan District Attorney and the Archdiocese to work together to address local conditions,” Rivera said. “Moments before the incident, the New York Police Department approached several aggressive individuals passing through the area and identified the individual involved as an emotionally disturbed person with a criminal record of assault.”