DA: Man Indicted In Staten Island Stabbings Of Woman, 3 Children

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A man has been indicted on murder and other charges in connection with the stabbings of a woman and three children at a hotel in Staten Island.

The 14-count indictment announced Monday against Michael Sykes, 25, includes three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder in the deaths of 26-year-old Rebecca Cutler, 1-year-old Ziana Cutler and 5-month-old Mailyah Sykes, authorities said. A third child, Miracle, 2, was wounded, but survived.

"These cold-blooded murders were carried out against a woman and her innocent children. It's almost incomprehensible to think a father and lover could do that to his partner, her children, and, most shockingly, his own child," Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon said in a statement. "It is the goal of my office to seek justice for these victims and to hold this defendant accountable for these barbaric attacks."

Police swarmed the Ramada Inn on North Gannon Avenue on the morning of Feb. 10 after a housekeeper found the mother and children.

Sykes was seen entering Cutler's room at around 8:50 a.m. and leaving at around 8:54 a.m., police said. He then got on the Staten Island Ferry, officials said.

Investigators said Sykes called his mother to say he had killed his girlfriend and was going to kill himself.

He was captured three days later at a friend's home in Queens, police said.

According to the indictment, authorities said Sykes stabbed Cutler over 40 times and stabbed Maliyah and Ziana about nine times each. Miracle was stabbed about 11 times, leaving her in critical condition, authorities said.

The knife was recovered at the scene, police said.

Sykes is due back in court on March 4.