Man of Guyanese heritage stabbed to death in New York

A Queens, New York man of Guyanese heritage was stabbed to death on Tuesday last in a street robbery.

The dead man has been identified as Andrew Cunje, 25, of Hollis, Queens. His family hails from Goedverwagting, East Coast Demerara.

News reports from New York City stated that Cunje was attacked by two robbers on 197th St. and Carpenter Ave. in Hollis, Queens at around 8:40 p.m. According to the New York Daily News, subsequent to the stabbing, Cunje was left lying on the street a few hundred feet from his home.

Cunje was stabbed multiple times in the chest before the pair fled with his wallet and backpack, sources said.

The two suspects wore black hooded sweaters and black jackets and in a video released by New York Police the pair was walking side by side along a sidewalk, both with their hands in their pockets, prior to launching the attack.

After reviewing surveillance footage, police busted prime suspect Raymond Kenner, 22, at The Hotel Wolcott, which houses homeless people who have just been released from jail or prison. Kenner was arrested at the shelter alongside reputed gang member Alexander Stephens, 31, an alleged accomplice in the Cunje slaying.

The New York News outlet reported that two days later, Kenner allegedly stabbed Benjamin Bulux, 29, a cook at a Manhattan deli in the back and chest near 89th Ave. and 150th St. in Jamaica, New York.

As detectives investigated both killings, they realized Bulux’s killer resembled a suspect in Cunje’s death, and was wearing similar clothing, police sources said.

They zeroed in on Kenner after learning that he was living at The

Wolcott before the killings, sources said. When detectives showed up at the hotel on Wednesday, Kenner was there, along with Stephens, trying to retrieve items they left inside.

Stephens also matched the footage from the Cunje killing, and Kenner was wearing clothing similar to the suspect in both slayings, police sources said.

Stephens, a reputed