A New York man who allegedly stabbed his girlfriend to death and attacked her teenage son in their Bronx home has been arrested, according to police.
Juan Rivas was arrested at around 2.30 p.m. on Saturday, several hours after the brutal attack, which reportedly left blood coming from underneath the door of the apartment.
The 45-year-old has been charged with murder, manslaughter, possession of a weapon and attempted murder over the attack, which left Yesenia Hall, 42, dead and her 16-year-old son severely injured.
“I heard the boyfriend yelling, ‘I’m gonna stab you,’” neighbor Shantrice Diamond told The New York Post, who said she was woken by a loud thud followed by “horrific” screams.
“I heard the woman’s voice. She was screaming in pain. She was screaming, ‘Stop! Stop!’ After that she said, ‘I am gonna die, I’m gonna die’ and like two minutes later I heard nothing but silence,” Diamond said.
According to police, Rivas allegedly used a knife to repeatedly stab Hall in the neck and torso and then allegedly stabbed the teenager in the back and neck. The boy is now in stable condition, according to the NYPD.
After the attack, Rivas allegedly changed his clothes before fleeing the apartment.
Diamond said she and her mother had waited until they heard the Rivas close the front door before coming out to investigate.
“If I’d have walked out and he was fleeing the scene, I’m a witness so he would have stabbed me too,” she told Post, adding that there was “blood everywhere” when officers arrived.
“It was blood on the walls, blood on the floor like towards the bedroom. It was blood everywhere,” she said.
She added: “I saw the little boy… He was still conscious but he looked loopy like he was about to pass out. They took him out in a chair all bloodied. “There was blood dripping from his mouth, his neck was bloody down to his clothes to his feet. The face was very, very bloody.”
Police said that the incident was due to domestic issues. Diamond said she had heard previous instances of aggressive behavior from Rivas.
Rivas is currently waiting to be arraigned at the Bronx Criminal Court.
The Independent has contacted the NYPD for any further information in the case.
