Parolee charged with attempted murder for NYC subway shove that severed girlfriend’s feet
A homeless parolee was charged with attempted murder Sunday for shoving his girlfriend into the path of a Manhattan subway, causing her feet to be severed by the train, cops said.
Christian Valdez — who made headlines in 2017 when charged with stabbing a woman and her 3-year-old daughter and then threatening to toss the girl off a Bronx fire escape — was cuffed after the Saturday morning attack.
Valdez and the victim were arguing on the Fulton St. platform when Valdez allegedly pushed her onto the tracks, cops said. A moment later, a downtown No. 3 train bore down on her, cutting off both her feet, a police source said.
The train came to a stop, trapping the woman underneath as she repeatedly screamed, “I don’t deserve this! I don’t deserve this!” a witness told the New York Daily News Saturday.
Medics rushed her in critical condition to Bellevue Hospital, where she was expected to survive.
Valdez was awaiting arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court Sunday on charges of attempted murder and felony assault. Police listed Valdez’s address as a Brooklyn women’s shelter.
Valdez has four past assault arrests on his record, police sources said, and public records show he’s still on parole for a Bronx attempted assault conviction from 2020. He was sentenced to up to eight years in prison in that case but was released to parole in January 2023.
On Sept. 13, 2017, he attacked Jenny Aquino and her then 3-year-old daughter, Bella, stabbing the little girl in the arm and knifing her mom in the stomach, according to cops and neighbors at the time.
Valdez was homeless and Aquino knew him from church, neighbors said. A lawsuit filed by Aquino blamed the building’s management company for failing to provide the proper security measures to keep criminals out. Aquino and the management company settled the suit for $225,000 last year, court records show.
The Saturday attack came despite an initiative launched by Gov. Kathy Hochul last week to deploy 750 members of the National Guard and 250 state and MTA police officers to subway stations to deter crime.
The city’s transit system has seen a 15% increase in felony assaults this year, with 97 attacks through March 3 compared to 84 by the same point last year, NYPD statistics show. So far, the transit system has been the scene of three homicides in 2024, up from one killing from this time period last year.
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