Stephen Giraldo tried to murder his estranged wife, Sophia Giraldo, by ramming his SUV into her and stabbing her. (Image of the vehicle: Queens District Attorney’s Office; screenshot of the defendant: WABC; screenshot of Sophia Giraldo via YouTube screengrab/Patrice Washington)
A New York man who pleaded guilty to trying to kill his wife by running her down with his SUV while their children were in the car has been sentenced to more than two decades behind bars.
Stephen Giraldo, 37, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the attempted murder of his estranged wife Sophia Giraldo, 37, in December 2022, according to a press release from the office of Queens County District Attorney Melinda Katz. As Law&Crime previously reported, Giraldo rammed his estranged wife with his Ford Explorer as she walked in front of it and then stabbed her. Giraldo reportedly told the couple’s three children, who were all in the car with him at the time, to “keep your seatbelt on” before stepping on the gas and crashing into his wife.
“This is one of the most brutal cases we have prosecuted,” Katz said in the press release. “To tell your children to ‘buckle up,’ purposefully hit their mother, and then climb over your son to continue your attack with a knife is unconscionable. In holding the defendant accountable and securing a lengthy prison sentence, we hope we have achieved some measure of justice on behalf of the victim and her loved ones.”
Stephen Giraldo was in a white Ford Explorer outside his estranged wife’s residence at approximately 5:20 a.m. on Dec. 27 to drop off their three children, ages 6, 9, and 11, at Sophia Giraldo’s home in Flushing, Queens. As seen on surveillance footage, Stephen Giraldo stepped out of the SUV to move a trash bag that blocked it, prosecutors said. He then returned to the SUV. Sophia Giraldo stepped out of her home and walked in front of the SUV.
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“Keep your seatbelt on,” Stephen Giraldo reportedly told the children. Then he allegedly crashed into his wife on purpose, resulting in the vehicle turning onto its side. He then crawled over his son in the front passenger seat and out the window to stab her with a knife. She sustained severe neurological damage, broken bones in her leg, and a puncture wound in her liver; Katz’s press release notes that she has remained unconscious since the attack.
Stephen Giraldo pleaded guilty in September to attempted murder.
Sophia Giraldo, who filed for divorce last year, hosted “The Unfiltered and Free Podcast.” The podcast is described as consisting of “real conversations about living life after betrayal and abuse,” and in the first episode, Sophia Giraldo described her marriage as being abusive.
Jerry Lambe and Alberto Luperon contributed to this report.
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