An illegal immigrant from Haiti has been charged with killing two of his acquaintances, a crime he is alleged to have committed prior to deportation hearings.
The incident took place on April 1 afternoon in the area of 33 Ruth Court in Middletown, New York. “The initial report indicated that a male subject had been stabbed,” the City of Middletown Police Department said in an April 2 press release. When officers arrived at the scene, “they located two male subjects that had sustained multiple stab wounds.” One of the subjects was located inside 33 Ruth Court and was determined to have died. The other person, found on the sidewalk outside of 33 Ruth Court, was determined to have suffered serious injuries and transported to a hospital, where he succumbed during surgery.
The male suspect in the incident, Kenol Baptiste, 30, was charged with murder in the second degree, manslaughter in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree. Mr. Baptiste, who was an acquaintance of the victims, was apprehended from a wooded area located near the crime scene.
Middletown Police Chief John Ewanciw said the two victims and Mr. Baptiste all had Haitian backgrounds and were able to converse in Creole, according to Mid Hudson News.
“In follow-up with members of the community, we are learning that this group of individuals moved in there about a year ago. Our suspect, due to fingerprinting responses, we learned that he came to the United States about eight months ago,” he said. “We are still trying to track back how, where, when.”
“It was one of the most brutal murders that some law enforcement is reporting to us that they’ve seen,” he said. “We don’t have any history, no background on these individuals … Who is monitoring them? That’s the problem … This is a failure on all levels of the federal government.”
Authorities told the outlet that Mr. Baptiste was in Orange County jail on deportation hold. He was scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
Mr. Ewanciw said the community does not seem to be in any danger. Police withheld the names of the two victims pending notification of their families.
The stabbing incident happened amid rising scrutiny on illegal immigrants from Haiti, whose numbers have swelled up in recent years.
Encounters with Haitian illegal immigrants have surged this fiscal year as well. In the first five months of fiscal 2024, there were 111,078 encounters, which is nearly a 200 percent increase from 37,270 encounters during the same period last year.
“The violence and unrest in Haiti is extremely alarming,” the letter said. “We believe that the people of Haiti deserve our sympathy, targeted American assistance and the support of the international community.”
“However, Floridians and the rest of the American public will not tolerate your administration again opening the floodgates for countless, unvetted foreign nationals to stream into our country, putting our national security at grave risk and creating untold public safety threats for our communities.”
They asked President Biden to reveal how the administration plans to prevent a mass migration of Haitians into the United States and how the government intends to vet Haitian illegal immigrants who arrive in the country.
