NEW YORK (AP) — Two seemingly isolated and random outdoor murders at the peak of the vacation season and of the type Latest Yorkers have increasingly feared for the reason that pandemic began were blamed by police officials Monday on a city resident with a criminal record.
James Essig, chief of detectives for the Latest York Police Department, underscored at a news conference how temporary and unplanned were the encounters Roland Codrington is accused of getting with two men slashed to death in nighttime killings three days apart, leading to two murder charges.
It was not immediately clear who would represent Codrington at initial court appearances.
The killings come at a time of increased anxiety citywide over random violence. Mayor Eric Adams recently announced plans for authorities to more aggressively intervene to assist individuals who need mental health treatment, including forcing individuals off streets and subways and into treatment.
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In April, a person was charged with injuring 10 people in Brooklyn when he set off a pair of smoke grenades after which scattered a barrage of random shots inside a train between stations. In May, a 48-year-old man was shot and killed riding a train between Brooklyn and lower Manhattan.
Despite random acts, the variety of crimes reported on public transit by September was averaging barely below pre-pandemic levels, though ridership was also down.
Within the arrest announced Monday, Essig said the primary killing Codrington was charged with occurred at 1 a.m. on Dec. 19, when 51-year-old James Cunningham, who had just left a bar after drinking a seltzer, was walking several blocks from Union Square when he was approached by Codrington, who was accompanied by his girlfriend.
After a 20-second-long, caught-on-camera dispute, Codrington, 35, slashed Cunningham across the neck with a knife, leaving him to die, Essig said.
At 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 22, Codrington entered a Lower East Side bar with a pit bull and a baseball bat, Essig said. Crodrington thought he had been disrespected by employees on the bar per week earlier. He assaulted the bartender and destroyed property, Essig said.
When two customers intervened, they were stabbed with a big knife, incurring non-life threatening wounds, Essig added.
Afterward, Essig said, Codrington went home, then said he’d “cool off” with a walk through the park.
There, he encountered Dr. Bruce Maurice Henry, 60, stabbing him repeatedly after a verbal exchange through which he became enraged, Essig said. The police official said Codrington left the world together with his girlfriend in Henry’s Mercedes Benz. Henry’s body was found at 2:15 a.m. on Dec. 23.
Essig credited three “sharp-eyed cops” from upper Manhattan with spotting the automotive at 9:40 p.m. on Dec. 24 and apprehending Codrington without resistance. Codrington, he said, has 12 prior arrests, including 4 assaults with weapons. Essig said police were investigating whether he’s chargeable for other random acts.
Asked concerning the girlfriend, Essig said she’s involved within the investigation but “hasn’t been charged as of yet.”
He said he couldn’t explain what the doctor was doing within the park or what the argument was about, but added: “You already know, for whatever reason he was within the park at the moment, he didn’t deserve what he got.”
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