A 23-year-old man was arrested on Monday night after allegedly stabbing and killing another man at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center campus in Queens, according to police officials.
Officers responded to a 911 call about an unresponsive man at a facility at Winchester Boulevard in Queens Village around 10:30 a.m. on Monday, the NYPD said.
When they arrived, they found 63-year-old Ronald Giacopelli face down on the floor at Hazel House, a 52-bed licensed residential program operated by the nonprofit Transitional Services for New York. Police officials said he had multiple stab wounds to the back of his neck and lower back.
Giacopelli was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.
The NYPD later arrested 23-year-old David Zheng, who officials said also lived at Hazel House. Zheng was charged with second-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence, and criminal possession of a weapon, according to the department.
Justin Mason, a spokesperson for the state Office of Mental Health, which oversees Creedmoor, said in a statement that the agency is “fully cooperating with the NYPD’s investigation and will review the circumstances that lead to this tragic event.”
Family members of Giacopelli declined to speak about the case when reached by phone on Tuesday.
Attorney information for Zheng was not immediately available.
This is a developing story based on information from police and has been updated.
