A 36-year-old gay man in the Bronx was stabbed to death on Christmas Eve by someone who reportedly shouted anti-gay slurs and threats at him. While a suspect has been arrested, he is not facing hate crimes charges.

“He was so miserable, but we had nothing to do with his misery,” Daris Davis told the New York Daily News about the alleged attacker. His husband, Arkmayer Davis, was the victim of the attack. “He took my heart away.”

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Mack Davis was caught while testing his weapons for the crime.

Arkmayer and Daris Davis were staying at a homeless shelter after their apartment caught fire on December 2. The fire destroyed most of their possessions.

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Kayjon Yizar, the alleged killer, lived the apartment just above theirs and went to the same shelter as the couple when he too was left homeless. Daris Davis says that Yizar blamed them for the fire.

“I feel like it’s because of the fire,” he said. “His intention was not to do that to Arkmayer, it was to do that me. He kept getting the two [of us] confused.”

Daris Davis said that Yizar would shout slurs at them long before the fire. He recounted one incident from this past July where Yizar threatened to kill them.

“The man came out the window and was like ‘Get the f**k away from my f**king window before I put a .22 slugger in your a** you f**king fa***t.’ Then he said, ‘I’m tired of y’all fa***ts,’” he said.

Daris Davis said the last time he spoke to his husband was at a laundromat just before the stabbing. The next time he saw him, Arkmayer Davis was unconscious and bleeding in their room at the shelter. He had been stabbed in the arm, leg, and torso multiple times, according to police.

“I came up to him, I shook him. I tried to wake him up and I see that he wasn’t moving,” he said. “I looked at his stomach. He wasn’t breathing and I could tell you he had no pulse and he was bleeding out.”

“He bled out and died on the floor right there.”

Arkmayer Davis was taken to the hospital but nothing could be done to save him.

Daris Davis said that he helped police identify Yizar from surveillance footage from just outside the homeless shelter all three men were staying at. Yizar has been arrested and is being held in custody.

After a grand jury hearing last week, Daris Davis said that he’s hopeful that there will be justice in the case.

“I’m glad that he’s gonna get served the justice that he rightfully deserves,” he said.

“I feel like he should get the death penalty and, if not, life in prison and without no parole,” he continued. “He should never have a chance to see daylight again.

“He should not be held or populated with anybody. He should be in a single cell, by himself, isolated from everybody, so he can see how lonely it is and miserable it is to be by yourself.”

Arkmayer Davis’ mother is also speaking out.

“My son was a loving, caring man. He ain’t hurt no one,” his mother, Gertrude Davis, said outside the courthouse last week as Yizar pled not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon. Gertrude Davis held up a picture of her and her son.

“Parents, hold on to your kids. There are monsters out here.”

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