Arrest in Chelsea killing

BY RICHARD KHAVKINE

A man has been charged in the killing of a transgender person on Seventh Avenue last month, authorities said this afternoon.

Joseph Griffin, 26, of no known address, was indicted on first-degree manslaughter charges for killing 59-year-old Brenda Bostick, also known as Kenneth Bostick, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office said this afternoon. Authorities said Griffin approached Bostick about 10 p.m. on April 25 on the east side of Seventh Avenue, between 27th and of 28th Street, and struck Bostick on the head with an unspecified “long metal object.” Bostick “immediately fell to the ground” and after being helped up by two passers-by who also witnessed the strike, walked to just north of 29th Street. Bostick was treated there by paramedics before being taken to Bellevue Hospital. Bostick was declared brain dead on May 4 and died May 7, a statement from the District Attorney’s office said.

“The defendant is charged with attacking Brenda/Kenneth Bostick with such force that it left a skull injury that caused the victim’s senseless and tragic death 12 days later,” District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said in the statement. “My Office is committed to ensuring that justice is served in Bostick’s memory.”

About 90 minutes after striking Bostick, Griffin was seen running in the middle of the street and climbed atop a taxi when the driver stopped to avoid hitting him. Griffin then smashed the cab’s windshield. He was arrested on May 5 on felony third-degree criminal mischief charges, a felony, in connection with that incident.

Both Griffin and Bostick were said to be homeless and staying Chelsea but might have stayed at the same West 25th shelter for a time.

Griffin is being held at Rykers without bail.