On Tuesday, December 27, an NYC public transportation bus driver admitted to intentionally hitting his wife with his personal vehicle and then getting out and stabbing her multiple times in front of his children. He called the police on his own immediately, and told them that he might have killed his wife.
Stephen Giraldo, 36, a New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority bus driver (MTA), was arrested on Tuesday and charged with attempted murder, reckless endangerment, assault, endangering a child’s life, and criminal possession of a weapon.
Giraldo, who has worked at the MTA for over a decade, kept his head down during his first court appearance in a Queens Criminal Court. The prosecutor described the crime, and told the judge that Giraldo had his three kids in the car when he knocked down their mother and almost killed her.
The oldest son, Stephen, 11, was in the front seat, and just before hitting his wife, Giraldo warned the kids to keep their seatbelts on.
He had driven to the Flushing, Queens home of his estranged wife, Sophia Giraldo, 41, called her, and told her to come down and meet them at the front of the house. When the unsuspecting woman approached the car, Giraldo sped it up and hit her. The impact of the hit was brutal and it tossed her over a fence, according to Audra Beerman, the Assistant District Attorney.
A criminal complaint filed by prosecutors revealed that investigators had footage from a surveillance camera that showed the entire incident. It displayed the suspect driving his white Ford Explorer at around 5 am on December 27 with all three of his children inside the vehicle.
After hitting his wife, Giraldo’s car hit a wrought iron fence and his car flipped over. The driver crawled out of the car using the passenger window, went to where his wife was and stabbed her beneath her breast. He threw the knife away at the side of the house, and police found it later.
According to officers at the scene, Giraldo called 911 immediately and told them he might have killed his wife. He stayed at the crime scene until the first responders arrived and was arrested there.
Paramedics took Mrs. Giraldo to New York Presbyterian Hospital for treatment for severe neurological damage, a punctured liver, and broken bones in her leg.
The victim works as a life coach and says she is a domestic abuse survivor. Days before the attack by her husband, she spoke on a podcast about being in a toxic and abusive marriage. She said she had grown accustomed to expecting the worst from people but hoped the new year would be different.
Family and friends of the victim are taking care of the kids, aged eleven, nine, and six, who were fortunately not seriously injured.
Giraldo, who will remain in custody where he is on suicide watch, faces up to 25 years in prison for his crimes. Although his attorney requested for him to be released on bail, the judge refused.
The MTA said that Giraldo would remain suspended without pay at least until his trial is over. His next court appearance is on January 12, 2023.