The nine-year-old New Jersey boy who was stabbed and killed in a Harlem housing project on Saturday was murdered over a video game, according to the Daily News. Fourth grade student Anthony Maldonado was spending the weekend with his uncle in the General Grant Houses when 25-year-old Alejandro Morales — one of his uncle's roommates — plunged a knife into the boy's chest after an altercation involving a Tony Hawk skateboarding video game, according to police.
Morales allegedly stabbed Maldonado at around 3:30 am, after two of Morales' brothers who also live in the apartment left to get food. After the attack, Maldonado reportedly staggered into his uncle's room. "Uncle, uncle, I've been stabbed," he said before collapsing. Paramedics rushed the child to St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital, but he died within the hour. According to cops, Morales was Maldonado's cousin, but the victim's relatives say they aren't related to the suspect, the Times reports.
The killing stunned the victim's family. "Why would you kill my little boy?" said Maldonado's mother, Dolores Juela, 35. "He was such a good boy. He didn't deserve this. He was too young." The victim's uncle, 31-year-old Carlos Juela, couldn't figure out why his roommate turned against his nephew, who was described as an avid skateboarder and a "good-natured prankster" in the the Star-Ledger. "He was a friend. I can't believe this happened," Juela said. "He doesn't act right on the street but he always minded his manners in the house." Morales has been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
Update: sources are saying Morales has a history of mental illness and a long rap sheet with "dozens of arrests." He's been taken to Bellevue for evaluation.
