Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Man Arrested in Queens Subway Killing by Andy Newman - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com

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A 19-year-old has been arrested and charged with murder in the Friday night stabbing of a man attacked by a group of people inside an elevated subway station in Queens, the police said.

The suspect, Benjamin Moreira of Elbertson Street in Elmhurst, is believed to have stabbed the victim, Dario Paiva, law enforcement officials said. Mr. Moreira was also charged with criminal weapon possession, the police said.

It was not immediately clear if the authorities were still seeking other people in the attack; the police said Saturday that there were as many as four men and two women involved. The police have not identified a motive in the case.

Mr. Paiva, 27, a construction worker and nursing student, had run from his house in Woodhaven around 11:30 p.m. Friday to help his younger brother, who was being beaten outside a video store on Jamaica Avenue near 85th Street, his mother said.

Mr. Paiva chased his brother’s attackers and caught up with them on the eastbound platform of the elevated 85th Street-Forest Parkway Station on the J line. He was stabbed in the throat and died soon after, the police said. His brother Khristian Paiva, 19, was not seriously injured.

Al Baker contributed reporting.