Columbia student attacked in NYC park yelled ‘Help! I have been stabbed!’ before dying

After Columbia University student Davide Giri was stabbed in the abdomen Thursday, officials say, he ran from a New York City park and yelled, “Help! I have been stabbed!” before he collapsed and died shortly thereafter.

The dramatic details of the unprovoked, violent homicide were revealed Sunday in the murder indictment of Vincent Pinkney, 25. Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. charged Pinkney with second-degree murder, first-degree assault, attempted first-degree assault and attempted second-degree murder.

Davide Giri.Columbia University

The indictment alleges that security video from the area of Morningside Park shows the suspect approaching Giri, 30, from behind and making “a stabbing motion.”

Police arrested Pinkney less than an hour after Giri and a second person were stabbed minutes apart in northern Manhattan’s Morningside Heights neighborhood, home to the main campus of Columbia University.

New York International Football Club, an amateur soccer team, said Giri was returning from one of its practices when he was stabbed.

The team said Davide was “the nicest and brightest person on the team” and vowed that “we will play and win for you because this is what you wanted.”

“You are a Legend, Davide. We Love You,” read a message posted to the team’s Twitter account.

Columbia University revealed that the second victim, Roberto Malaspina, who was initially reported by police to be a 27-year-old tourist who survived a stabbing, is a visiting scholar newly arrived from Italy with plans to study for several months at Columbia University School of the Arts.

The indictment said Malaspina is hospitalized nearby after he “sustained several stab wounds to the back and torso including one that punctured his internal organs.”

A third victim alleged that they survived an attempted assault in which Pinkney brandished a knife, lunged repeatedly and “nearly stabbed” them.

Pinkney was arrested in northern Central Park and is next due in court Wednesday.

Pinkney’s attorney, Jorge Santos, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement to the school’s community, Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger said Giri’s passing was “unspeakably sad and deeply shocking, as it took place only steps from our campus,” and urged students to seek support from professionals and one another.

Giri was killed almost exactly two years after another Columbia student died in a robbery-homicide in the area of Morningside Park.

The woman, Tessa Majors, an undergraduate student, was stabbed in the park in December 2019 after she fought her teenage attackers, police said.

Security video depicted her final moments as she staggered up a large set of stairs leading from Morningside Park toward the school seeking help.

Luchiano Lewis, 16, pleaded guilty to murder and robbery charges and was sentenced to nine years to life in prison in October.

source: nbcnews.com