A distinctively-dressed fugitive wanted for killing a sleeping homeless man and wounding two others in a Manhattan stabbing spree was busted Wednesday when an ex-city Department of Correction officer spied him at a Harlem bus stop, police said.

Trevon Murphy, a homeless man himself, began to wander off as cops approached him on 128th St. and St. Nicholas Ave. before surrendering. The 40-year-old wore the same outfit sported during his bloody run — neon sneakers and an “Innocence Project” hoodie — when put in handcuffs.

“Oh my God, thank you Jesus,” said a weeping Igdalia Torres, the sister of hospitalized victim Abimael Rolon, after hearing the suspect was in custody. “I’m so happy. I needed that news today.”

Stabbing suspect Trevon Murphy is taken from the NYPD's 6th Precinct stationhouse in police custody on Wednesday. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News)

Murphy, later wearing a blue T-shirt proclaiming “World’s Best Papa,” was led by detectives from the 6th Precinct in handcuffs. Asked by reporters why he stabbed the three men, the suspect snapped, “For what they done to me!”

While police recovered a knife from Murphy’s left pants pocket, police sources said it was unclear it was the same weapon used in the attacks. Both NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell and Mayor Adams praised the former city worker for noticing the suspect and then calling the cops.

Surviving victim Abimael Rolon. (Obtained by Daily News)

“(That) correction officer played a major role in apprehending this dangerous individual,” said Adams. “He went beyond the call of duty to make sure that this dangerous person was removed off the streets.”

In a tweet, Correction Officers Benevolent Association President Benny Boscio said the ex-officer is a “hero.”

“Even as retirees, our officers maintain a deep commitment to keeping our city safe, which is exactly what retired CO Ruben Arias did today in spotting and turning in a cold blooded killer to the NYPD, saving lives in the process.”

Murphy was charged with one count of murder and two charges each of attempted murder and assault, cops said. He made statements to police after his capture and identified himself as the person seen in security footage from the attacks, according to authorities.

At least two other people had already called Crime Stoppers before the retired correction officer called 911. The ex-city employee flagged down two cops patrolling nearby, and they took Murphy into custody.

The knife NYPD officers found in Trevon Murphy's left pants pocket. (NYPD)

Sewell said Murphy, convicted of a narcotics charge in Tennessee, violated his probation and was wanted there on an outstanding warrant. She also noted a Queens arrest from April 10 where he allegedly punched a roommate in a homeless shelter — his last known address.

He was busted after the attack on the sleeping victim, a crime similar to the three stabbing incidents. Cops charged him with misdemeanor assault and he was released without bail, according to court documents.

“This suspect should not have been on our streets,” Sewell said. “This man was preying on the vulnerable and we’re thankful on the combined efforts to bring him to justice.”

This is the man the NYPD says stabbed a sleeping man inside Hudson River Greenway Park near W. 11th St. and West St. in Manhattan on July 5, 2022. (DCPI)

Adams said the series of attacks “really highlights how imperative it is to move people into safe spaces and shelters and even to permanent housing.”

The NYPD said a day before the arrest that police were stepping up efforts to find the suspect by sending his picture to every cop in the city — and warning homeless people they would be safer sleeping in shelters.

The stabbing spree started July 5 when a 34-year-old man sleeping on a park bench at West and Christopher Sts. in the West Village “awoke to pain in his stomach,” Chief of Detectives James Essig said Tuesday.

Hudson River Greenway Park near W. 11th St. and West St. in Manhattan. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News)

Video shows the attacker then taking the victim’s Citi Bike and driving it around the block a few times, Essig said.

The suspect — wearing the same Innocence Project sweatshirt and neon sneakers and carrying a gray backpack — then returned to the scene and stabbed the slumbering man, though the attack was not caught on video.

The injured man stumbled across the street, where a passerby called 911. He was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where he died.

The victim’s backpack was taken and later found nearby but police did not recover the bike. No explanation was made about the sweatshirt from the Innocence Project, the New York-based organization that fights to exonerate the wrongly convicted.

The stabber struck next about 10 p.m. Friday, when he sat on a park bench and watched for a half-hour as his next victim, Abimael Rolon, slept 30 feet away near a building at Madison Ave. and E. 49th St.

Surveillance images released by the NYPD of the man wanted for a knifing inside Hudson River Greenway Park near W. 11th St. and West St. in Manhattan on July 5.

“The perpetrator then puts on a COVID mask, walks over and stabs our victim one time and walks off,” Essig said.

Rolon, 59, Essig said, tried to treat the wound himself and didn’t notify police until two days later. He’s now recovering at Weill Cornell Medical Center but too wounded to speak, his sister exclusively told the Daily News.

A third man 28, was knifed in the stomach about 3:30 a.m. Monday as he slept on a basketball court at the Stanley Isaacs Playground at 95th St. and the FDR Drive in Yorkville. A witness told police the suspect, again clad in the same sweatshirt, was armed with a large kitchen knife.

“He states he felt a punch in the side,” Essig said. “He gives chase to the perpetrator but is unable to purse due to his wounds.”

The attacks were reminiscent of a cold-blooded March murder spree by a man arrested for targeting homeless victims in Washington, D.C., and New York. Suspect Gerald Brevard III killed one homeless man and wounded two others in the nation’s capital before heading to New York, where he was accused of slaying one sleeping man and wounding another.

Copyright © 2021, New York Daily News

Copyright © 2021, New York Daily News