A 22-year-old man was arrested in Virginia in connection with the killings of three women — a mother, her daughter and her stepdaughter — who were found stabbed to death in a Queens home on Friday morning, the police in New York said on Monday.
A spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police said the man, whom they identified as Jabari Burrell, was arrested on Friday off Interstate 95 in Prince George County, and charged with driving a stolen vehicle. Police in New York would not identify him and said charges are pending his extradition from Virginia.
The police released the names of the three victims.
Hyacinth Brown-Johnson, 65, was found in her Springfield Gardens home with her daughter, Latoya Gordon, 47, and her stepdaughter, Patrice Johnson, 26, according to the police.
The women were first found inside their house on Friday morning by a home care aide, who then called the police. At around 10:40 a.m., officers from the 105th precinct found the three women unconscious, with stab wounds to their necks. They were pronounced dead at the scene.
The two-story house — situated in a quiet, working-class neighborhood of single-family homes — was cordoned off by police tape throughout the day on Friday.
Mayor Eric Adams stopped by on Friday afternoon, where he was briefed on the situation. “Our hearts go out to the families,” he said to reporters.
Officers at the scene said the situation was an “isolated domestic incident” and that the general public was safe.
It took officials nearly nine hours, from when they first responded, for the bodies of Ms. Brown-Johnson, Ms. Gordon and Ms. Johnson to be removed from the house as distraught family members stood outside.
Relatives of the women described Ms. Brown-Johnson as a caring breadwinner.
Donna Hewitt, of Ozone Park, Queens, said she was the cousin of Ms. Brown-Johnson. “She is loving and caring, very friendly, she gets along with everyone,” she said.
“It was hard to believe, but now that I see the whole thing, I know it’s real,” said Ms. Hewitt, 59, standing outside the home on Friday.
Nadine Thomas, from Irvington, N.J., Ms. Brown-Johnson’s youngest sister, held back tears as she said, “She was always fun and laughter.”
Wesley Parnell contributed reporting.
