These families’ lives collided for a brief, nightmarish moment on Saturday when Scott allegedly stabbed the elderly man to death in broad daylight as he was walking back from a local flea market.
Authorities said Scott emerged from a residential building at 80 25 Parsons Blvd. in Kew Gardens Hills and pounced on the elderly man, first plunging a knife into his arm, then stabbing him four more times in the back and torso, before fleeing to his mother’s apartment a block away. Witnesses said Randazzo staggered backward and collapsed onto the pavement, but was able to speak with police officers when they reported to the scene minutes later. He was rushed to Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica, where he later died.
Hours later, police from the 107th Precinct apprehended Scott after a brief standoff outside his mother’s home in Parkway Village Building 107.
Scott has been charged with two counts of second degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon and faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted.During his arraignment Tuesday in Queens Criminal Court, Scott waived his right to appear at his next court date on Sept. 22. He is being held without bail while undergoing psychiatric evaluation at Bellevue Hospital.
Saturday’s attack was not the first time Scott had lashed out violently without provocation, residents said.
Carlos, a seven year resident of Kew Gardens Hills who would identify himself only by his first name, said Scott once punched an elderly neighbor, Dennis Cullinan, 63, in the head. Cullinan, who had just undergone surgery to implant a pacemaker, said hello to Scott outside a local convenience store when the younger man allegedly knocked him out with a swift blow to the head.
Authorities also believe Scott is responsible for an Aug. 12 attack on a 48 year old Kew Gardens Hills man, Lawrence Nelson, who was stabbed in his right index finger with an unknown object by an assailant who then fled the scene. He was charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon in that incident. “He was a real angry guy, and for whatever reason, I guess he liked going after old men,” Carlos said.
Police said Saturday’s fatal stabbing was unprovoked, but Kew Gardens Hills residents who knew Scott wondered if the attack was racially motivated. Neighbors reported seeing Scott roam the block cursing white people. Another resident, Christopher Rau, said he narrowly escaped with his life eight years ago when Scott chased him with a baseball bat, screaming racial and homophobic epithets.
Scott reportedly suffers from schizophrenia and was institutionalized in 2003 and 2005. The suspect told investigators that voices in his head told him to commit the murder, police sources said.
At Parkway Village earlier this week, a somber pall had fallen over Building 107, where the suspect lived with his mother. Her apartment was empty Monday afternoon, but a neighbor who identified herself only as Amira said Scott’s mother was a nice, well intentioned person who tried to do right by her son.
Neighbors who knew the Randazzos, meanwhile, were still trying to make sense of the horrific event. The Parkway Village management office sent a letter to its residents explaining what happened and offering “our deepest condolences to the Randazzo family,” but it seemed to do little to quell the sense of confusion and sorrow that has taken hold of the community.
“Everyone is still shaken up pretty badly from the weekend,” said a woman who lives in the same building as Randazzo’s youngest son, but declined to be named. “You just never expect such an awful thing to happen where you live.”
Neighbors said they had not seen the younger Carmine since the stabbing and believe he has left to console his grieving mother, Antonia, at her home in Flushing. The elder Randazzo had a weekly routine of visiting his son in Parkway Village and taking leisurely walks to the flea market near his son’s home, residents said.
The victim moved to the Kew Gardens Hills area with Antonia, a retired school crossing guard, in 1969 and worked as a credit manager for Brooklyn Union Gas for nearly three decades. The couple later moved to Flushing. After retiring, Randazzzo become an author. The Bronx native published his first detective mystery, “Dante’s Georgia Inferno” shortly after turning 72, followed by another novel about a Sicilian boy who travels to Argentina, “Solo Lupo,” five years later.
Randazzo is also survived by several grandchildren. A funeral service is planned for Friday at Queen of Peace Church at 141 36 77th Ave., Flushing, with burial to follow at St. Raymond's Cemetery in the Bronx.
|
|
