Man Sentenced to 25 Years in Stabbings of 3 Homeless Men in Manhattan

A 42-year-old homeless man was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison on Wednesday for stabbing three homeless men in Manhattan, one fatally, in a string of attacks during the summer of 2022.

The man, Trevon Murphy, pleaded guilty in January to one felony count of murder in the second degree and two counts of attempted murder.

The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, had said that the attacks were committed against the city’s “most vulnerable” community members.

“New Yorkers who face the painful and difficult experience of being unhoused shouldn’t have to simultaneously fear for their safety,” Mr. Bragg said in a statement on Wednesday.

Mr. Murphy, who has a history of arrests and has struggled with mental illness, was arrested in July 2022 on charges of murder and attempted murder in connection with the three stabbings, which took place over the course of a single week in July. All three men whom Mr. Murphy stabbed had been sleeping outside when the attacks occurred, according to prosecutors.

Mr. Murphy’s lawyer, Kevin Canfield, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.