A teary-eyed Taj Gibson and Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau sat front and center at St. Paul Community Baptist Church in East New York Friday for the emotion-packed funeral of Gibson's six-year-old cousin.
Prince Joshua Avitto died earlier this month of stab wounds from a knife-wielding man in a public housing project elevator as he and 7-year-old friend Mikayla Capers were "going to get ice cream."
Taj Gibson six-year-old cousin killed
"He would be like, 'Cousin Taj, pick me up, I'm Superman" the Bulls forward said from the pulpit. "That's what gets me every time. I know him from being Superman. He's invincible. It was like he was my age. That's how I looked at it. It's hard being here around my aunt. She's the strongest woman in my family 'cause she raised all of us. It's hard to be here."
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Rev. Al Sharpton were also in attendance, joining a stream of relatives, friends and community activists. Throughout the service, slideshows of the beaming boy were aired as relatives held Spider-man posters , one of the boy's favorite comic book characters.
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"We've come today to celebrate P.J.'s life," the Rev. David Brawley told the crowd."But we must acknowledge that his life was ended way too soon."
Police have charged 27-year-old parolee Daniel St. Hubert in connection with the crime after matching him with DNA evidence found on the knife. Capers' condition has since been upgraded and she has been removed from the ICU unit.
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