Man sentenced for hitting wife with SUV, stabbing her in front of their kids
QUEENS (WABC) -- A man who brutally attempted to kill his estranged wife in Queens last year was sentenced Friday to 25 years behind bars.
Stephen Giraldo, 37, told his young three children to buckle up in their car before plowing into their 41-year-old mother, Sophia Giraldo in December of 2022.
Prosecutors say the car turned on its side and Stephen climbed over his child in the front passenger seat and stabbed his wife through a window.
She survived but has not regained consciousness and was left with severe neurological damage, broken bones and a stab wound that punctured her liver.
Giraldo pleaded guilty last month to attempted murder. He begged for forgiveness in the courtroom Friday and apologized to his comatose wife.
"Please forgive me for this unspeakable, unfathomable, unimaginable hurt I have inflicted upon you," he said. "You've always meant the world to me and the last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you in any way, shape or form. I will always love you. You will always have a special place in my heart. I pray for your recovery."
Giraldo admitted he deliberately ran her down with their three young children still strapped in to the family's SUV. Surveillance video showed he floored the truck and when it flipped over, he jumped out and plunged a knife into her chest.
In court, Sophia's father, Pastor Chuck Brooks, described his grandchildren as "emotionally damaged" without their mother-and traumatized by what they witnessed.
"In front of your own sons, you viciously attempted to take the life of their mother, you attempted to murder me and my wife's daughter," Brooks said.
A protective order now forbids Giraldo any contact with his children.
"This is one of the most brutal cases we have prosecuted," said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. "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."
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