Story by Ethan
On October 5th, 2026, the arrest of Jyrell Thomas, age 25, was announced by Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. Jyrell Thomas was charged with second-degree Murder, and two counts of fourth-degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon. The arrest and charges against Jyrell Thomas were a result of an investigation handled by Detective Frank Lasala of the NYPD’s 102nd Detective Squad.
According to the Queens District Attorney’s Office, at approximately 5:00 p.m. on September 30th, 2026, Jyrell Thomas boarded a J-train headed towards Queens, New York, at the Broadway Junction station in Brooklyn, New York. At approximately 5:15 p.m. the train car approached the Woodhaven station near the intersection of Woodhaven Boulevard and Jamaica Avenue when the defendant allegedly began screaming loudly and brandished a knife which he used to then repeatedly stab 59-year-old Mesias Lojano.
As the subway car’s doors opened at the Woodhaven station Jyrell Thomas immediately fled while dropping his weapon as several other passengers in that J-train either called 911 or chased after the defendant. NYPD officers responded to the scene and successfully apprehended Jyrell Thomas approximately two blocks away from the station on the roof of a nearby garage. Responding officers recovered two kitchen knives belonging to Jyrell Thomas, one from the J-train subway car and the second, which was covered in blood, on the stairs of the Woodhaven station. Mesias Lojano was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced as deceased after sustaining stab wounds to his lips, neck, chest, and back.
The Queens District Attorney’s Office stated that the charges against Jyrell Thomas are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
