Daniel St. Hubert guilty of stabbing two kids, one fatally, in Brooklyn elevator

NEW YORK -- A Brooklyn jury has convicted a man charged in a brutal elevator stabbing that killed a 6-year-old boy and left his 7-year-old friend with serious wounds. Daniel St. Hubert was found guilty of murder and attempted murder Tuesday. He had pleaded not guilty in the death of Joshua "PJ" Avitto and the stabbing of Mikayla Capers.

St. Hubert had been living in a homeless shelter when the attack happened in June 2014.

The kids has been playing outside their East New York housing complex and went inside to get icees. It was then that they ran into St. Hubert, who followed them into the elevator, reports CBS New York. 

Police say Hubert pulled out a 9-inch knife and started stabbing the two children after telling them to shut up. 

St. Hubert started "repeatedly stabbing" them, Mikayla testified last month, according to the station. When he stopped, she said St. Hubert ran out and she knew PJ was dead.

"His eyes were open," said Mikayla, now 11. "There was a bunch of blood on the floor."

St. Hubert's lawyer said his client was framed and called the surviving victim and witness "a pathological liar."

Howard Greenberg called Mikayla "unworthy of belief" following her testimony. On cross-examination, he tried to poke holes in the child's story, getting her to admit she tells white lies sometimes.

St. Hubert faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced.

In a statement, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said he hopes the verdict brings some measure of closure to the victims' families.

"It is impossible to fathom that someone would brutally stab small, innocent children who were going to get some icees after playing in a playground," Gonzalez said in the statement, released to CBS New York. "But the evidence established beyond any doubt that the defendant committed this heinous crime and he has now been held responsible."