According to records, the man who is suspected of killing three people in a gruesome stabbing spree on Monday was free on bond for other alleged crimes in New Jersey and had been freed from a New York City jail a month prior.
Ramon Rivera, 51, was formally informed that he faces three charges of first-degree murder at his initial appearance before a Manhattan judge on Tuesday.
Rivera was “wearing a grey sweatshirt that appeared to have bloodstains on it and dark pants,” according to a criminal complaint, and was carrying two knives when he was apprehended by police on Monday.
According to the lawsuit, Rivera “admitted in substance” that “he stabbed the three” victims after speaking with NYPD Detective Yeoman Castro.
On Tuesday, it was not possible to quickly contact Rivera’s court-appointed attorney for comment.
The homeless man’s freedom was questioned by New York City Mayor Eric Adams just hours after Rivera was arrested after the three killings.
“There is a serious question that we need to look at about why he was out on the streets after being sentenced a few months ago, and he has some serious mental health issues that should have been examined,” Adams told reporters on Monday.
According to records, Rivera was released on October 17 from a New York City jail after serving time for charges of assault and burglary. Records revealed that Rivera had committed grand larceny on the day of his parole by stealing goods from a store in Manhattan.
Additionally, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office reports that Rivera was charged with several felonies in neighboring New Jersey earlier this year.
According to a grand jury indictment, he was charged with breaking into the Green Room, a CBD business, on January 11 and taking mason jars of CBD bus along with other items.
Then, according to another indictment, Rivera allegedly stole phones and other gadgets from the Union City Hi Wireless store four days later.
According to court documents, Rivera has been detained eight times in New York City in the last 12 months. Additionally, he was detained in Florida and Ohio.
According to a statement from the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, “The Criminal Justice Reform Act provides an outline for when a defendant should be detained or released from custody pending prosecution.” “The defendant was released on pretrial monitoring due to the seriousness of these offenses.
Rivera was taken into custody following three fatalities from attacks that the police described as “unprovoked.”
According to authorities, at 8:22 a.m. ET, 36-year-old Peekskill construction worker Angel Lata Landi was attacked close to his workplace at 444 W. 19th St.
Then, approximately 2.3 miles and a 52-minute walk from the scene of Landi’s attack, a 67-year-old man was fatally stabbed at 10:27 a.m. while fishing in the East River close to 500 E. 30th St. The identification of the fisherman was delayed until his family was notified.
At 10:55 a.m., approximately three-quarters of a mile and a fifteen-minute walk from the second murder, the third victim was fatally stabbed close to East 42nd Street and First Avenue. The victim was determined to be Manhattan resident Wilma Augustin, age 36.
As stated in the complaint, a witness “saw the defendant standing very near a woman, heard that woman yelling ‘Help,’ and then saw the defendant run.”
Mayor Adams suggested that the woman who was killed may have been a recent arrival in the United States and said that Augustin had an 8-year-old child.
“A man gets stabbed while fishing on FDR Drive. Adams informed reporters on Tuesday that a mother of an 8-year-old child and another individual who was en route to work were both slain.
“That family and child came here to follow the American dream, as you are aware. How would you describe what transpired to that child?
Adams would not go so far as to call the victim a migrant, but Augustin’s publicly stated residence seemed to be a shelter for recently arrived migrants.
“We have to look into that, we’re still clearing out exactly what’s going on and exactly what happened,” he stated to reporters.
Shortly after the Augustin attack, Rivera was taken into custody, according to the police.
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