Daughter distraught after horrific attack on Randall's Island leaves mother fighting for life
RANDALL'S ISLAND, New York (WABC) -- A 44-year-old woman remains in critical condition after she was struck in the face and head several times on Randall's Island on Friday, leaving her daughter distraught and searching for answers.
Perforating the serenity of an evening bike ride or jog on Randall's Island were flashing lights from an NYPD Crime Stoppers truck with a big LED photo of a victim, Stephanie Rodas's mother.
"When I saw her in the hospital room, like I remember just falling down to my knees because the woman I saw up there didn't look like my mom," Rodas said. "She was so swollen."
Stephanie Rodas was supposed to be taking finals this week, but has been at her mother's hospital bedside.
Diana Agudelo, 44, was biking home from work in Manhattan, taking her usual shortcut through Randall's Island at around 11:30 p.m. on Friday, when someone beat her so viciously, she had to be put in a medically-induced coma.
"Even if she does wake up, what if she doesn't remember me?" Rodas said. "Like what if she sees me and doesn't even know her daughter? So, even if the best-case scenario comes, how do I deal with that?"
Detectives have their work cut out for them in the quiet, somewhat desolate area of Randall's Island.
Police do not have any usable images or video of the suspect.
The woman was so badly beaten, she could not talk to police about her attacker. So, police have posted pictures of the victim, hoping someone saw something.
"I just hope that if someone's out there - like whoever saw anything or sees anything - can come out and say something because I know if it was my mom who saw something, I know she'd be the first one to speak up," Rodas said.
She says her mother's e-bike was stolen. One of her shoes was in a trash can when first responders found her lying near the bike path, not far from the psychiatric hospital on Randall's Island.
After undergoing emergency brain surgery, the prognosis is bleak for Rodas's mother.
"I know I'm 21, but I feel like I'm still a kid, like I don't know what to do," Rodas said. "Like I still need my mom."
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