Hero 16-year-old NYC boy saved sister as their mom’s boyfriend allegedly stabbed her to death in ‘gruesome’ attack
A hero 16-year-old boy saved his sister during a brutal attack — pulling her back and getting stabbed instead — as their mother was allegedly hacked to death by her maniac boyfriend.
Jaylah Maldonado, 22, recalled the horrific weekend attack in which Juan Rivas, 45, allegedly plunged a kitchen knife into her mom Yesenia Hall’s chest, killing her, at their Bronx apartment, according to authorities.
“My mother’s last words to me were, ‘I’m sorry. I’m dying. I’m sorry,’” Maldonado wrote in a heartbreaking GoFundMe post.
Maldonado said that she and her teenage brother were startled awake early Saturday by their mom screaming in her bedroom at their apartment on Sherman Avenue near East 163rd Street in Concourse.
The young woman wanted to jump to her mom’s aid – but was held back by her brave younger brother, she recounted on the fundraising page.
Rivas then allegedly turned the weapon on the teen, stabbing and slashing him on the back and sides of his neck, left shoulder and left cheek, according to a criminal complaint.
“To spare the gruesome details, my mother and brother were struck with a sharp weapon multiple times as I witnessed and was unable to help in any way due to my brother pushing me away, saving me from the altercation,” Maldonado wrote.
Throughout the bloody ordeal, Maldonado’s youngest brother, 12, was holed up in his bedroom, prosecutors said.
Maldonado called 911 while her mom and brother “fought for their lives,” she recalled.
Both victims were rushed to Lincoln Medical Center, where Hall, 42, succumbed to her injuries, and the teen was listed in stable condition, cops said.
“I would never blame my mother for her DV situation ever,” Maldonado added of the deadly violence.
“It’s difficult to go through, and she was extremely loved by her family and friends.”
Rivas changed his clothes and fled, only to be arrested hours after the 6:30 a.m. burst of violence, cops said.
He was arraigned in Bronx Criminal Court Sunday on multiple charges, including murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, assault, criminal possession of a weapon, endangering the welfare of a child and harassment, according to the complaint.
Rivas was ordered held without bail by Judge Yadhira Gonzalez-Taylor, and he was due back in court Thursday.
Maldonado said she now has a long road ahead as the “next mother” to her two younger brothers, and a brand-new 9-week old puppy who Hall had considered a “son.”
