The suspect accused of killing a Columbia University grad student and stabbing an Italian tourist in a demented Manhattan crime spree is a career criminal who was out on parole for a gang attack, it has been revealed.
Vincent Pinkney, 25, was escorted into NPYD Central Booking on Friday night, as hundreds gathered on the South Lawn of Columbia in a vigil for Davide Giri, a PhD candidate in computer science.
Giri, 30, died around 11pm on Thursday after police say he was stabbed in the stomach by Pinkney, who allegedly went on to wound an Italian tourist, Robert Malastina, 27, outside Central Park before 'menacing' another man, 29, with a large kitchen knife as the victim strolled the park with his girlfriend.
Pinkney is a member of Bloods gang off-shoot, Everybody Killas, who has at least 11 prior arrests dating back to 2012 and was out on parole for a 2015 gang assault, police said.
He was released from prison in June 2018 after serving a four-year sentence for a brutal attack in which he and three accomplices slashed, punched and kicked a victim in an assault that was caught on camera, according to the New York Post.
On Friday night, Pinkney was transferred from the 26 Precinct to Central Booking, wearing a white Tyvek jumpsuit.
The five-foot-five, 140-pound suspect was escorted in handcuffs by two burly NYPD detectives.
Meanwhile, shocked Columbia students gathered on the school's central quad for a candlelight vigil honoring Giri a sixth-year doctoral student in the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Vincent Pinkney, 25, was escorted into NPYD Central Booking on Friday night after he was arrested and charged with the stabbing murder of Columbia student Davide Giri in a wild Manhattan knife spree
Pinkney is a member of Bloods gang off-shoot, Everybody Killas, who has at least 11 prior arrests dating back to 2012 and was out on parole for a 2015 gang assault, police said
On Friday night, Pinkney was transferred from the 26 Precinct to Central Booking, wearing a white Tyvek jumpsuit. The five-foot-five, 140-pound suspect was escorted in handcuffs by two burly NYPD detectives
Hundreds attended a candlelight vigil held for Columbia University graduate student Davide Giri on Friday in New York City
Davide Giri, 30, (right) a PhD candidate in computer science at Columbia University, died after being stabbed in the stomach by Vincent Pickney (left)
Pinkney reportedly moved south on his stabbing spree, moving from Morningside Heights to Central Park
The fatal stabbing of Giri took place just a block away from where Bernard College student Tessa Majors, 18, was viciously stabbed to death in December 2019 as violent crimes continue to rise in New York City.
Columbia University President Lee Bollinger wrote in an email to students: 'I write with great sorrow to share the tragic news that Davide Giri, a graduate student at the School of Engineering and Applied Science, was killed in a violent attack near campus on Thursday night.
Davide Giri was taken to St. Luke's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead
'This news is both unspeakably sad and deeply shocking, as it took place only steps from our campus. On behalf of the entire Columbia community, I send my deepest condolences to Davide's family.'
Police said Pinkney has a lengthy rap sheet that includes robberies and assaults and other alleged crimes.
He was previously convicted of gang assault in 2015 and served two years of a four-year sentence in jail before being let out on parole, according to state Department of Corrections records.
Police said Giri was the first victim of the stabbing spree and was attacked just before 11 p.m. on Thursday at 123rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue, in Morningside Heights.
Giri, a Brooklyn resident and Italian native, was stabbed on his way to his apartment after playing in a soccer match with the NY International FC, the New York Post reported.
He was taken to St. Luke's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
One Columbia student told the Daily News that Pinkney had been howling in joy after he knifed Giri and moved on to the second victim.
'He was ecstatic,' the student said.
Giri had traveled the
