Veo Kelly: Brooklyn man who killed Samyia Spain for refusing his advances surrenders to police
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK: Authorities have said that the knife-wielding man who is suspected of stabbing teenage twin sisters, killing one of them, after they turned down his advances outside a Brooklyn bodega turned himself in to police early on Friday, March 22.
The charges relate to the fatal stabbing of 19-year-old Samyia Spain outside Slope Natural Plus on Fourth Avenue close to St Marks Place on Sunday, March 17, at 2:20 am.
Veo Kelly faces several charges
Authorities said Veo Kelly, 20, of Stuyvesant Heights, turned himself in at the 78th Precinct. Kelly is accused of murder, assault, and two counts of illegal gun possession.
Samyia's elder relative, Danasha Goodson, was overheard uttering the words "the bastard that killed my sister" as detectives led him from the 78th precinct stationhouse into an unmarked car that was waiting for them.
Others in the crowd screamed at the alleged murderer, "F**k you!" Kelly, who didn't know the sisters, allegedly approached the teenagers as they were making their way to their neighborhood deli while he was leaving a nearby catering hall, New York Post reported.
According to police, after the teens rejected his advances, Kelly became enraged and attacked them.
As per police sources and prosecutors, he has been arrested at least twice before, the most recent one occurring in July 2023 after he was allegedly accused of attacking his 18-year-old ex-girlfriend at the Pier 25 Marina in Lower Manhattan.
A criminal complaint states that the victim was playing Uno with her friend at the marina when she was abruptly pummeled by another woman, who kicked her to the ground.
At that point, the complaint claims, Kelly allegedly took his ex's bag off her shoulder, emptied its contents, and threw her phone into the river before shocking her in the leg with a Taser.
According to the court document, he was charged with second-degree attempted gang assault and second-degree robbery after being arrested.
Veo Kelly was taken into custody in September after attacking a different woman
According to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, Judge John Zhuo Wang approved supervised release with electronic monitoring despite the prosecution's request for Kelly to be detained on $20,000 bond.
He was then taken into custody in September after attacking a different woman in Far Rockaway.
However, the outcome of that arrest was not made public, and Queens prosecutors stated that the case was not on file, which meant it might have been closed or the charges dropped.
The surviving teen told the New York Daily News that the Spain twins, their brother, and at least one friend were heading to the deli last Sunday after taking a break from a family game night when they noticed someone following Samyia.
“I grabbed her phone and I was like, ‘Come with me, come with me,’” Sanyia Spain said. “I was like, ‘Why are you talking to that boy?’ She said, ‘I don’t want to talk to that boy.’”
Samyia made the decision to give the man her Instagram handle in an attempt to get him off their backs. The Post was informed by relatives that the girls had met him at a nearby club earlier in the evening.
“She said she wasn’t going to follow him back,” Sanyia recalled. “That’s it. She said ‘no.’” That's when the man lost control of himself.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters Thursday, March 21, “This guy came out of a party hall down the street, got very aggressive with one of the girls trying to get some contact information.”
Kenny further added, “When they didn’t take to his advances, he got verbal, then he got physical.”
Samyia was fatally stabbed in the chest by the inebriated stranger, according to police, who then left her at New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. After being stabbed in the arm, her sister was treated and released from the same hospital.
