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Habib allegedly stabbed victim Wycliffe Gentles seven times in front of a building on Guy R. Brewer Boulevard near Tuskegee Airmen Way in Jamaica.
By Michael V. Cusenza
A Jamaica resident has been charged in the stabbing death of a man who intervened earlier this month when the accused became embroiled in a physical altercation with a property owner, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Thursday.
Muhammad Habib, 24, was arrested in Indiana on April 14 and arraigned in Queens Thursday on a complaint charging him with second-degree murder, third-degree criminal possession a weapon, third-degree tampering with a witness, and assault in the third degree. Habib was ordered held without bail and to return to court on May 20.
According to the charges, on Monday, April 13, between 10 a.m. and 11:08 a.m., Habib was seen by witnesses and on video surveillance allegedly engaged in a fight with another man inside of a residence on Guy R. Brewer Boulevard near Tuskegee Airmen Way in Jamaica. Wycliffe Gentles, 43, of South Jamaica, attempted to separate the two men, and while doing so began to trade blows with Habib. As punches were being thrown, Habib allegedly pulled out what appeared to be a knife. Gentles grabbed a nearby object and struck Habib in the head with it.
According to the complaint, Habib then chased Gentles down a flight of stairs, at which point Gentles retrieved a 2×4 wooden beam and raised it in the direction of the defendant. The fight spilled outside the building, but at one point, Gentles suddenly dropped the wooden plank and fell to the ground. Habib allegedly pounced on the opportunity, stabbing Gentles seven times in the neck and torso, penetrating his left chest, lung and pulmonary artery. He eventually succumbed to these injuries. Habib fled the area and ultimately the state.
According to the charges, at approximately 6:41 p.m. on the same day of the murder, Habibtexted the property owner he had originally fought with, stating “snitches get treated the same.”
According to the Greenfield Daily Reporter, Habib and a female companion, Khusbu Patel, 22, also of Queens, were cuffed on Tuesday, April 14, at approximately 12:10 p.m. in Hancock County, Ind. by the state’s Pro-Active Criminal Enforcement team, a multi-jurisdictional enforcement criminal interdiction task force.
While patrolling Interstate 70 near the Hancock County/Henry County line, PACE Team Sgt. James Goodwin of the Henry County Sheriff’s Department spotted the suspect’s white Honda Civic “committing multiple lane violations.” After learning that an NYPD felony alert had been placed on the vehicle and its occupants on April 13, Goodwin and fellow officers moved to apprehend the duo. Habib and Patel were arrested following a vehicle pursuit through two counties.
The couple appeared to be headed to Missouri, Goodwin said. According to the Reporter, a search of the Civic turned up two pounds of marijuana, an undisclosed amount of crack-cocaine, and multiple packages of illicit pills and heroin.
“Following the violence, the defendant is alleged to have fled the state to evade arrest,” Katz said. “He was apprehended in Indiana and returned to New York to face charges.”
If convicted, Habib faces up to 25 years to life in prison.
