Sep. 5, 2023 By Bill Parry
Jamaica resident Stephen Giraldo pleaded guilty in Queens Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 5, to attempted murder charges for slamming into his estranged wife with his SUV and then stabbing her in the presence of their three children who witnessed the assault as passengers in their father’s vehicle.
The mother survived the attack but has not regained consciousness since the December 2022 assault and remains under care, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Giraldo, 36, of 144th Street in Jamaica, pleaded guilty to attempted murder before Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Yavinsky who is expected to sentence the defendant to 25 years in prison on Oct. 6.
The former MTA bus driver was led out of the 109th Precinct in Flushing after running over his wife in December 2022.Photo by Dean Moses
According to the charges, on Dec. 27, 2022, at approximately 5:20 a.m. Giraldo was in a White Ford Explorer outside the Flushing residence of his estranged wife, 41-year-old Sophia Giraldo, to drop off the couple’s three children, ages 11, 9 and 6.
Video surveillance shows Giraldo get out of the car to move a trash bag that was blocking it and then get back into the vehicle. At the same time, Sophia Giraldo walked out of her residence and in front of the car. Giraldo told the children to “Keep your seatbelt on,” then intentionally drove the SUV directly into his wife, the charges state. After colliding with the victim, the car turned onto its side. Giraldo crawled over his son in the front passenger seat and out of the vehicle’s window and then stabbed his wife with a knife. The victim suffered severe neurological damage, broken bones in her leg and a stab wound that punctured her liver.
Police from the 109th Precinct in Flushing arrived at the home at 41-80 Parsons Blvd. and officers took Giraldo into custody. The children were not harmed in the collision, according to the NYPD.
EMS responded to the crime scene and rushed the victim to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens Hospital for treatment of her injuries.
“The horrifying brutality of the attack, and the fact that it was committed in full view of the victim’s three young children, stirred outrage and heartbreak across the city,” Katz said. “We welcome the guilty plea and seeing a violent, dangerous man go to prison, but today’s outcome does not remedy the immense pain and lifelong suffering the defendant caused.”