April 3, 2023 By Michael Dorgan
A Woodside couple who was captured in a shocking viral video beating a neighbor with a baseball bat and then stabbing him have been indicted on attempted murder charges and a slew of other crimes, according to the Queens district attorney’s office.
Daisy Barrera, 27, and her boyfriend Arturo Cuevas, 30, were indicted by a grand jury and arraigned on Monday, April 3, in the brutal attack that took place last month on 47th Avenue, between 48th Street and 49th Street, according to the DA’s office.
The couple, prosecutors allege, hit 28-year-old Wilson Chabla Lliguicota multiple times in the head with a baseball bat and also stabbed him several times to his body and face.
Prosecutors say the couple unleashed the March 17 attack as revenge for a previous spat over a parking spot. Lliguicota was left in critical condition and with brain damage and had a portion of his skull removed during surgery, prosecutors said.
Video of part of the attack was posted to Twitter and has generated nearly 20 million views. The viral video has been widely circulated on other social media pages, too.
Barrera and Cuevas were each charged with attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.
Barrera was also charged with assault in the second degree after she allegedly struck Delia Chimbay, Lliguicota’s girlfriend, with the baseball bat. Chimbay had tried to stop the attack on Lliguicota when she was hit, according to the DA’s office.
If convicted Barrera and Cuevas each face up to 25 years in prison.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz described the incident as a “brutal attack.”
“As alleged, the husband stabbed the victim and the wife hit him with a baseball bat, working in tandem and leaving the injured man with no chance to retreat from this rage-filled attack,” Katz said. “We will seek justice.”
**Warning: Graphic content, viewer discretion is advised**
Fight over an empty parking stop in Sunnyside, Queens ends with a guy getting stabbed 5 times and savagely beaten with a Baseball Bat… pic.twitter.com/Ahqlvp6CMG
— Fight Haven (@FightHaven) March 21, 2023
The incident unfolded in broad daylight, at around 3:40 p.m., when Cuevas approached Lliguicota who had just arrived home and parked his car on 47th Avenue, prosecutors said.
Cuevas then pulled out a folding knife and stabbed him multiple times before Barrera pummeled him in the head with a baseball bat, prosecutors said.
In the viral video, the footage starts while the attack is already underway, with the victim sitting upright on the road that is covered in blood. The video was posted to the Twitter account @FightHaven, a combat sports page.
Cuevas, who is holding the folding knife, can be seen stomping on the victim’s back while Barrera appears to be shouting at an onlooker while she wields the baseball bat. Barrera then shouts out “motherf**ker,” before she turns and swings the bat — pummeling Lliguicota on the side of his head. At the same time, Cuevas kicks Lliguicota in the head.
Lliguicota then collapses onto his side before slumping face-first on the ground. As Lliguicota attempts to get up, Cuevas shouts at him in Spanish and then appears to stab Lliguicota in the face before the video cuts out.
The couple fled to their apartment on 49th Street and then, following a 20-minute standoff, they were arrested by police from the 108th Precinct inside their apartment building, prosecutors said.
They were ordered back to court on May 9.