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Two Stabbed By Neighbor at East Village Apartment Complex, Police Say

By  Katie Honan and Maya Rajamani | December 26, 2016 10:58am | Updated on December 27, 2016 10:48am

EAST VILLAGE — A man was arrested after stabbing two of his neighbors at an apartment complex early Monday, police said.

The man and woman were stabbed at 1 Haven Plaza, at 200 Avenue C, at around 8:50 a.m., according to the NYPD. They were taken to Bellevue Hospital and were in stable condition, according to officials.

Jayson Avila, who also lives at 1 Haven Plaza, was arrested Monday in connection with the incident, the NYPD said.

He was charged with two counts of attempted murder and two counts of assault, police said.

Attorney information for Avila wasn't immediately available Tuesday morning.

Several residents at 1 Haven Plaza on Tuesday said they believed Avila suffered from mental illness, and had been off his medication at the time of the attacks.

A 65-year-old resident of nearly five decades, who declined to give her name, said she was in the lobby when the man Avila stabbed stumbled down the stairs.

"He said, 'Help me, Jayson stabbed me,'" she recalled.

The woman went up to her apartment to call 9-1-1, and discovered a pool of blood in the elevator on her way back down to the lobby.

When she returned to the lobby, the woman Avila allegedly stabbed was lying naked on the floor face down, the 65-year-old said.

Neighbors told her Avila, who has lived in the building since he was a child, knew the man he stabbed and had done martial arts with him in the past.

"He's a very quiet person," she said of Avila, "He don't bother nobody."

Resident Felix Rivera, 67, confirmed the 65-year-old's account of the bloody scene.

"I think [Avila] was on medication, but he didn't take the medication," he said.

Both victims were stabbed on the building's eighth floor before making their way down to the lobby, he added.

Another resident named Julie, 67, who declined to give her last name, said the attacks "left everybody shocked."

"Nobody could believe [Avila] did that," she said. "I just hope they're OK."