Teen arrested in deadly Queens stabbing, charged with gang assault
A teenager has been arrested in connection to a deadly stabbing in Sunnyside, Queens.
Fourteen-year-old Julian Corniell died Friday afternoon after police say he was stabbed multiple times in the abdomen. It happened near a McDonald's parking lot at 38th Street and Queens Boulevard.
Witnesses say the attack involved 15-20 teenagers. A knife could be seen on the ground at the crime scene Friday night.
Police say a 14-year-old boy is in custody and has been charged with gang assault. It's unclear if they are searching for additional suspects. The investigation remains ongoing.
Victim in Queens stabbing had order of protection after previous attack, mother says
Julian was a ninth grader at Hillcrest High School in Jamaica, but his mother says before he started there in November, he had been transferred twice and had an order of protection against another student after he was attacked by 10 other teens early last year. It's not known if Friday's attack involved any of his previous attackers.
"We live in Jamaica, which is very far from Sunnyside. I don't know how my son ended up over there," Julian's mom, Julia Verona, said. "So he walked out of my house with his backpack, and I thought that he was gonna go to school. But then they called me in the afternoon that he didn't go to school."
She says when she last spoke with him Friday morning, he asked for money so he could get a Valentine's Day gift for his girlfriend.
Julian Corniell remembered as "a very sweet boy," loving brother
Verona says Julian was the second oldest of five siblings and the only boy in a family full of girls. She says he always looked after his little sisters, and loved playing soccer and video games.
She spent Saturday at her mother's apartment, saying she didn't want to go home.
"I don't want to find his bed without him there. And I'm very devastated," she said.
Julian's aunt Sheila Corneill does not want her nephew to be seen as a statistic.
"We can't process this. This is not natural. This is not the way things work. Julian was supposed to put us to rest. We were not supposed to put him to rest. Julian was very loved, and Julian was very cared for. Julian had a very big family, and everyone was very involved in his life," she said.
"I don't know how I'm gonna be without my little boy. He didn't deserve to die that way. He didn't. He didn't. He was a very sweet little boy, and my son was not in the street," Verona said.
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