Colin
An illegal immigrant from Haiti has been arrested after allegedly stabbing his two roommates to death at their apartment in Middletown, a small town in the Hudson Valley about 75 miles northwest of New York City.
Kenol Baptiste, 30, was subsequently charged with felonies of second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter, as well as fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, which is a misdemeanor.
According to the Times Herald-Record, the incident took place on Monday afternoon at an apartment complex on Ruth Court. When police arrived on scene, they discovered the two victims suffering from numerous stab wounds, one of whom was already dead. The other had managed to escape from the building and was laying on the sidewalk, still barely alive.
He was rushed to Garnet Health Medical Center in town, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
Baptiste and the unidentified victims all fled Haiti to the United States and spoke Creole. As the New York Post reports, the trio had been living together for less than a year.
Middletown Police Chief John Ewanciw explained that while Baptiste had entered the country around a year ago, authorities were still working on determining exactly when, where, and how he managed to do so.
During an interview with News12, Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus revealed that Baptiste was waiting on his federal immigration proceedings at the time of the stabbing.
Neuhaus placed the blame, partially at least, at the feet of the Biden administration, calling the situation, “a failure on all levels of the federal government.”
“We don’t have any history, no background on these individuals,” he said of those who enter the country illegally and go on to commit crimes. “Who is monitoring them? That’s the problem.”
Baptiste is currently at the Orange County Jail on deportation hold and is expected to return to court on Friday.
