Police stated that the young man who pulled a knife on a middle‑school student at a Brooklyn playground was only 12 years old. He has now been charged as a juvenile with attempted murder.
According to reports, the 12‑year‑old victim, Khayell Dupree, was stabbed in the chest at Betsy Head Park in Brownsville during a dispute that the attacker’s mother said was part of a longer “beef” among neighborhood kids.
“From what I know, allegedly, he had an issue with one of the kids that were involved [in] the neighborhood,” Karerja Rerd, 36, told The Post outside the family’s apartment building.
Khayell was taken to a Queens hospital that specializes in pediatric heart care because he was listed as “critical but stable.” Rerd explained the extent of his injuries: “So [the] knife punctured his left lung and his heart, they had to cut from his collarbone so above his stomach, to close his heart, and then he started with all the fluid in his lungs,” she said. “So my baby is hooked up to tools all throughout his body.” She added, “When I still talk to him, I still touch him, I still kiss him… just gently and on his hand.”
The suspect was seized at the scene, and a knife was found in his possession. Police are still working out whether he and the victim were at the nearby Mott Hall Bridges Academy together. He now faces a grave felony, and the case will be heard in Family Court.
Rerd painted a picture of Khayell as a “quirky and goofy and funny” boy who is “happy all the time,” enjoys playing Roblox, and shares a close bond with his 5‑year‑old sister who is autistic.
He also has three older brothers who are 15, 16, and 18. She went on to say, “My baby’s not one of them kids that you gotta worry about,” emphasizing her love for her son. “But those other kids, other people’s babies…that’s what they did, and now I almost lost my son, but they messed up their lives too,” she added. “Somebody else’s mother got to [deal] with their child being incarcerated.”
The circumstances that led to the stabbing are still under investigation. Rerd reflected on what she saw happening, “Whatever issue they had, whatever problems they had, it was never that serious,” she remarked. “It was never that bad….You’re supposed to be playing Roblox.
You’re supposed to go to VR and Nintendo and do fun stuff, and Christmas is coming up.” She went on, “This is not Roblox,” stressing the difference between virtual worlds and real life. “You don’t get to do over. You don’t get an extra life.
This is not Minecraft. You don’t have 10,000 hearts and you can take it. No, it don’t work like that. It don’t work like that. This is real life. When things happen, they happen, and it’s real, and it has real effect on you and the people around.”
In a separate violent episode just over two hours earlier, authorities reported that a 13‑year‑old and a 15‑year‑old were stabbed in a brawl outside the Seneca Avenue M‑train station in Ridgewood, Queens.
The younger teenager was injured in the chest, while the older one was stabbed in the back. Both were treated at local hospitals for non‑life‑threatening wounds. Police said a handful of teens fled the scene, and those individuals had not yet been apprehended.
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