NBA player Taj Gibson of the Chicago Bulls got the most heartbreaking news of his life this week – his young cousin, 6-year-old Prince Joshua Avitto and a 7-year-old friend were headed downstairs in their Brooklyn apartment building when a man, believed to be homeless, attacked them with a knife. The girl, Mikayla Capers, will survive, but Avitto was killed.
The man randomly attacked the children who were on the their way to get ice cream, police say. The children were attacked in the Brooklyn housing project Boulevard Houses in East New York, Brooklyn an area still far removed from Brooklyn’s gentrification in areas like Williamsburg and Red Hook. The man is still at large but a sketch has been released to aid in his capture.
No security cameras were in place in the building although a budget had been allotted to install them, reports the New York Daily News.
The 28-year-old basketball player grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. He posted a grief-stricken post on Instagram yesterday with his cousin’s picture.
(Photo: Taj Gibson Twitter, Instagram)
