Parents Of Slain Binghamton Student To Visit Blind Brook HS

RYE BROOK, NY — The parents of Joao Souza, the Binghamton University student who was stabbed and killed Sunday in his dormitory, will be passing through Rye Brook Wednesday. Jonathan Ross, the superintendent of the Blind Brook-Rye Union Free School District, alerted the school community via email that an informal gathering for family and friends has been organized.

The gathering will take place in the Blind Brook High School Commons beginning at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

“All members of the Blind Brook community who wish to attend may do so later today,” Ross wrote.

Souza’s parents traveled from Brazil where they live.

Souza, 19, was a first-year engineering student at Binghamton University. He graduated from Blind Brook High School, where was considered a star soccer player.

No funeral arrangements have been announced.

Another Binghamton student, Michael M. Roque, 20, has been charged with second-degree murder.

A public defender who had been appointed for him entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf.

Souza's death came six weeks after a Binghamton nursing student was killed on campus.

Haley Anderson, 22, a Long Island resident, was strangled March 8. A fellow nursing student, Orlando Tercero, 22, was taken into custody in Nicaragua March 13.

Authorities said Tercero fled the country before Anderson's body was found.

Photo credit: Google Maps.