Girl Stabbed in Brooklyn Elevator Released From Hospital

The 7-year-old girl who was stabbed in a Brooklyn elevator last week alongside a friend who was killed in the attack has been released from the hospital.

Mikayla Capers was released from Presbyterian-Morgan Stanley Hospital on Wednesday, according to a spokeswoman. No further details were offered.

The girl suffered a collapsed lung when 27-year-old Daniel St. Hubert allegedly stabbed her and 6-year-old Prince Joshua "PJ" Avitto in the building on Schenck Avenue in East New York on June 1.

The stabbings appeared to be random, and police are investigating whether St. Hubert, a parolee, is connected to two other recent stabbings, including one in a Chelsea subway station and a deadly stabbing of 18-year-old Tanaya Copeland blocks away from where the children were attacked. 

Mikayla has been described as PJ's best friend, and the two were said to be going up to get ice cream when they were stabbed in the Boulevard Houses elevator, which had no cameras.  

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday that workers were beginning to put security cameras in the Boulevard Houses, and 17 security cameras will be installed in the housing project by October, if not sooner.

Fewer than half the city's public housing buildings have security cameras. De Blasio has called delays in installing them unacceptable and vowed to hasten the process.

Copeland, the teenage drummer returning home from practice with the Royal Knights Marching Band when she was stabbed more than 30 times, was mourned at a funeral at Bethlehem Baptist Church Wednesday.

"She was a determined, dedicated person," said Tyquandra McKenney, a fellow band member. "This was her second year in college. And she was only 18, in the band for 8 years." 

A funeral was held for PJ last Friday, days after St. Hubert was captured in Ozone Park, Queens. The suspect has been arrested nine times in the past, and has a violent criminal record that includes attacks on a corrections officer and a police officer, authorities said.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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