A Queens Village man was charged with murder in the stabbing death of his 22-year-old half-brother, the Queens District Attorney’s office announced Monday.
According to charges, 29-year-old Wkorasky Voltaire, of 208th Street in Queens Village, was arguing with his brother on Thursday, May 14, at an “uninhabitable house” where he and his brother, McKenzie Placide, previously lived with their now deceased mother.
Police confirmed that the two brothers were squatting in the residence, which one neighborhood resident said was vacant ever since a fire broke out on the second floor on Oct. 14, 2019, and injured five people.
Voltaire allegedly brought two kitchen knives with him from an aunt’s house and began arguing with Placide before stabbing him with one of the knives, according to the charges. Voltaire then grabbed the second knife and followed Placide outside, where he continued to stab him multiple times in the chest and torso, according to the DA’s office.
Voltaire allegedly left one knife inside the vacant house and is accused of disposing the second knife, his sneakers and blood-covered clothes, according to charges.
Placide told responding officers that his brother had stabbed him before he was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died of his injuries.
“This was an alleged act of fratricide, where a man grabbed a knife and violently stabbed his own half-brother to death. In an attempt to cover up the violence, the defendant is also accused of trying to conceal his guilt by hiding evidence,” Queens DA Melinda Katz said.
An investigation conducted by the 105th Precinct and the NYPD’s Queens South Homicide Squad led to the May 15 arrest of Voltaire, who was arraigned on May 15 before Queens Criminal Court Judge Mary Bejarano on a complaint charging him with murder in the second degree, tampering with physical evidence and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.
Bejarano remanded Voltaire without bail and ordered Voltaire to return to court on June 15, 2020. If convicted, Voltaire faces up to 25 years to life in prison.
