A 19-year-old New York City boy has been arrested and committed to a mental health facility in connection with the murders of his five-year-old half-brother, their father and the child's mother in their apartment building.
Jayden Rivera was arrested and charged in the gruesome triple murder and also faces charges of manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon, an NYPD spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
The bodies of Jonathan Rivera, 38, Hanoi Peralta, 33, and Kayden Rivera, five, were found in an apartment building at 674 East 136th Street in Mott Haven.
Jonathan Rivera is Jayden's father and Peralta is Jonathan's girlfriend and mother of their son Kayden.
Police responded to a 911 call at 6:40 a.m. Sunday and found Jonathan Rivera in the hallway, covered in blood and with several stab wounds.
Jayden Rivera was arrested and charged in the gruesome triple murder and is also charged with manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon, an NYPD spokesperson told DailyMail.com
The bodies of Jonathan Rivera, 38, Hanoi Peralta, 33, and Kayden Rivera, 5, were found in an apartment building at 674 East 136th Street in Mott Haven.
Peralta and Kayden were also found shortly afterwards with multiple stab wounds in their first-floor apartment in the same building.
All three were pronounced dead at the scene.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny revealed that the five-year-old was actually disemboweled by his half-brother.
Kenny said that Jayden – a scholarship student at SUNY Oswego – told his own mother – while still covered in his victims' blood – that he “heard voices” in the days leading up to the murder and that he had asked his father and the girlfriend believed by his father. intended to harm him.
“Later, when he got home, he told his mother again that he heard voices and that he thought Mr. Rivera and Ms. Peralta were going to hurt him.”
Jayden initially fled the apartment after killing his victims, but returned to attempt to violently bash their bodies with a kitchen pot New York Post reported.
He was checked into the Westchester County Medical Center in Valhalla, where he reportedly confessed to the murders.
Jonathan Rivera and Peralta had separated but were reconciling at the time of their deaths.
The bodies of Jonathan Rivera, 38 (right) Hanoi Peralta, 33 (left) and their son Kayden Rivera, 5, were found Sunday morning in the Bronx
Police remove one of the victims from the scene. Mr. Rivera was discovered in the hallway, covered in blood and with several stab wounds
Rivera has two other daughters in Connecticut. Friends and relatives said he worked two jobs to make ends meet, including at Kayden's school.
Hours after the grisly discovery was made, the former building superintendent fondly reminisced about his interactions with Kayden while going to and from school.
“I play with him every day,” Jose Torres said. “That's my little friend right there.”
Neighbor Paulette Williams said: “I heard people talking about how they heard loud fighting and arguing, and then it stopped – and then they found out they were dead,” she added.
Torres, 60, believes the family moved into the building about five years ago.
“They always go out together,” he said. “I've never had any problems with any of them.”
Dahan Ali has a deli in the building and knows all the victims. He said: 'I used to see her every morning at 7.30am. When I came, she was taking her son to school, with her son every morning.”
They were found at 8 a.m. at an apartment complex at 674 East 136th Street in Mott Haven (photo)
Police presence on site
Police have cordoned off the area outside the building
People who live in the building say the family kept to themselves and never saw any problems between the couple and their son.
Mrs Ali continued: 'Beautiful boy, very sweet. I saw the day before yesterday at home, he took a cookie, I said: 'Where is your father?' He said outside.'
The medical examiner determined the cause of death as homicide.
The investigation is still ongoing and so far there are no suspects or motive.