The shattered family of a 14-year-old boy stabbed to death at a Queens McDonald’s says the young age of his accused attackers is no excuse for the brutal crime.
Police have so far arrested two boys, ages 14 and 16, in connection with Julian Corniell’s Valentine’s Day killing. The older of the two suspects, who was arrested Thursday, faces murder charges.
“I feel like being 16 is sometimes a cop-out. Being young is a cop-out,” said the victim’s aunt, Sheila Corniell, 40. “We can say that boys will be boys till we’re blue in the face, but doesn’t that mean fists? That doesn’t mean weapons.”
Kerry Burke / New York Daily News
Julian Corniell, 14, was fatally stabbed near 38th St. and Queens Blvd. in Sunnyside, Queens, on Feb. 14, after two groups of teens clashed inside a nearby McDonald’s, pictured here. (Kerry Burke / New York Daily News)
Julian began high school in Long Island City last year but after enduring severe bullying and an assault by a group of youngsters that put him in the hospital he transferred to Hillcrest High School in Jamaica in November, the boy’s mom previously told the News.
“What are we doing with our children where our children aren’t safe in the street, our children aren’t safe at McDonald’s, our children aren’t safe at school, our children aren’t safe on the subway?” the aunt said Saturday. “So where are we safe?”
On Feb. 14, Julian once again ran afoul of a large group of teens looking to hurt him. He showed up at the McDonalds near 38th St. and Queens Blvd. in Sunnyside with three friends in tow, his aunt recounted, and came across a larger group wearing ski masks and surgical masks.
“Sunnyside is not a dangerous neighborhood. Sunnyside is not a place where you would expect you need to watch your back at 3pm in the afternoon while the sun is out. On Valentine’s Day,” Corniell said. “I would understand Halloween but on a Friday on Valentine’s Day?”
Julian was chased out of the McDonald’s and across the street, where he was attacked by the mob of teens.
“Within minutes of the fight breaking out, this kid stabs Julian,” Corniell said. “Once Julian is injured he runs out of the McDonald’s and they run after him.”
As he lay dying, a friend and former classmate held Julian’s hand and applied pressure to his wound. Medics rushed Julian to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell in Manhattan but he could not be saved.
Courtesy of family
Julian Corniell is pictured wearing the shirt of his church basketball team (left) and with his mother, Julia Varona (right). (Courtesy of family)
Cops arrested the 14-year-old boy at the scene and charged him with gang assault.
Julian’s murder echoed another slaying in Sunnyside last year, when police say a 15-year-old girl stabbed 17-year-old Sara Rivera to death near the Queens Blvd. entrance to the 46th-Bliss Street subway station. The teen victim knew Julian’s family.
“He was sad about it but at the same time he understood that there wasn’t much that he could do being that he was much younger,” Nahomi Varona, 28, another of Julian’s aunts, said.
Corniell added, “A year later, dealing with the exact same thing only like a train stop away from when she was hurt?…. What is happening? Why is our city in this state? And it’s all senseless. It’s all over nothing.”
Julian’s family made a point of attending the 16-year-old suspect’s court arraignment on Thursday and listening to an assistant district attorney describe the crime.
“Every detail was like a punch to the gut,” Varona said.
The teen suspect seemed stoic and emotionless to Julian’ family, who had never seen him before.
“We don’t know who he is. We’ve never seen him in our lives. He’s never crossed paths with us,” Sheila Corniell said. “It was a very big surprise to us just to see the sheer size of him. Our nephew Julian was a very small frame. He’s petite. He was like 5-foot-3, 120 pounds. Julian is 14 but he was a very little 14.”
The NYPD continues to investigate the senseless slaying.
Julian’s mother, Julia Verona, said the family is “putting all our trust and faith in the NYPD to get to the bottom of what happened that day.”
“We are very grateful at the fact that this hasn’t been something that they’ve disregarded,” she said. “We’re very grateful this has continued to be investigated and that they’re continuing to look into it. Because this wasn’t okay and we don’t want any other family to deal with what we are dealing with.”
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