Fatal Stabbing of Teen Mars Day Of Community Pride And Celebration

MOUNT VERNON, NY — Today should have been remembered as the day the whole city came out to honor the Mount Vernon High School Knights basketball team's state championship and undefeated season; instead, what will be remembered is that a Mount Vernon STEAM Academy student is dead.

The Mount Vernon teenager was fatally stabbed and another Mount Vernon student was injured at East Prospect Ave. and Gramatan Ave. around 3:55 p.m., police said. Officials said one student was treated at the hospital and confirmed the teenager who was stabbed to death was a student at the Davis STEAM Academy.

Mount Vernon police said when they arrived at the scene, officers found a group of teenage girls fighting and soon became aware two of the girls had been stabbed, one with non-life-threatening lacerations and the second with a critical stab wound. The gravely injured minor died from her injuries on the way to Jacobi Medical Center.

Police did not say if any arrests have been made in connection with the violence.

"It is with a very heavy heart that I must announce that a tragedy has occurred in the Mount Vernon High School community," Mount Vernon Superintendent Kenneth Hamilton wrote in a message to students and families. "Today, April 8, 2022, two 10th-grade students from MVHS were involved in an altercation with two other students from the Mount Vernon STEAM Academy and the Denzel Washington School of the Arts on Prospect Avenue after dismissal at approximately 4 p.m. One student passed away at the hospital from stab wound injuries she suffered during the altercation and the other student, at this time, is in stable condition at the hospital."

The City of Mount Vernon School District will provide counseling at the high school on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Community-based, individual and group, crisis and grief counseling will be available through Family Services of Westchester located at 6 Gramatan Avenue on Saturday, from noon to 3 p.m.

SEE ALSO:

• Parade And Ceremony To Be Held For Mount Vernon Knights Friday
• 15-Year-Old Girl Arrested In Fatal Stabbing Of Classmate: MVPD
• Teen Killed In Fatal Victory Parade Stabbing Identified By Officials

"I am devastated and completely outraged," Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard said. "We began our day celebrating the greatness and success of our youth and we ended it with a young life that has been taken by a senseless and inexcusable violence. The mental emotional and spiritual health of our community especially of our children must be the priority and we must come together. As a community our common unity must be the safety and healthy development of our young people. Our heartfelt prayers and condolences go out to the family, friends and the entire community of Mount Vernon."

The tragic events on a Mount Vernon street unfolded within an hour of the community gathering to play tribute to the high school athletes who accomplished a remarkable feat and showed off the city's indomitable spirit, earning the admiration of communities across the region and across the state.

"My heart is with the family of the teenager who was killed in Mt. Vernon," candidate for New York State Senate, Lisa Do Hofflich said in a statement released Friday night. "Praying for them and the woman who was also stabbed to recover. Today was about celebration for Mt. Vernon, but it's taken a tragic turn. We must do better."

Today's violence won't take away from the accomplishments of Mount Vernon's elite group of athletes and scholars, but the sad events have put a proud community's troubles in the spotlight when they were just getting used to celebrating their well-deserved triumphs.

Anyone with information about the homicide is encouraged to contact the Mount Vernon Detective Division at 914-665-2510. Anonymous text messages can also be sent to "Text-a-Tip" by texting "MVPD" and your tip to 847411 (tip411).