Machete attack on family ends in 18-year-to-life sentence

December 17, 2024 Robert Abruzzese, Courthouse Editor

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez speaks during a news conference. Photo: Mary Altaffer/AP

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A Bedford-Stuyvesant man has been sentenced to 18 years to life in prison for a brutal machete attack that claimed the life of his 79-year-old grandfather and injured two other family members, including his 4-year-old niece. The sentencing follows the defendant’s guilty plea to second-degree murder last month.

“This sentence holds the defendant accountable for a tragic, senseless, and truly horrific act of violence perpetrated against members of his own family,” District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. “My condolences go out to the family of James Dubose Sr. for their tremendous loss. Thankfully, the other two victims recovered from their wounds.”

The defendant, Dayquan Dubose, 26, was sentenced on Dec. 13, 2024, by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Michael Kitsis. The attack occurred on Jan. 3, 2021, at approximately 5 p.m., inside the family’s home at 300 Putnam Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

According to evidence presented, the incident began with an argument between Dubose and his young niece in a first-floor apartment. He retrieved an 18-inch machete and struck the girl on her hip. Dubose then went upstairs to a second-floor apartment, where an uncle allowed him inside. Upon entering a bedroom where his grandfather, James Dubose Sr., and his 49-year-old brother-in-law were watching television, he fatally stabbed his grandfather in the abdomen. When the brother-in-law attempted to intervene, Dubose slashed him on the hand.

Two other family members restrained Dubose until police arrived and arrested him. Emergency responders transported James Dubose Sr. to Interfaith Medical Center, where he later succumbed to his injuries. The other two victims were treated at local hospitals and released.