Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Stephen Giraldo was sentenced today to 25 years in prison for the attempted murder of his estranged wife, who has been unconscious since he deliberately plowed into her nine months ago with his SUV, then stabbed her in the chest, all in the presence of their three young children.

District Attorney Katz said: “This is one of the most brutal cases we have prosecuted. 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.”

Giraldo, 37, of 144^th Street in Jamaica, pleaded guilty last month to attempted murder. Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Yavinsky today sentenced him to 25 years in prison, with five years post-release supervision.

According to the charges:

• On December 27, 2022, at approximately 5:20 a.m., Giraldo was observed on security video footage in a white Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle outside the residence of his estranged wife, 41-year-old Sophia Giraldo. Inside the vehicle with the defendant were the couple’s three children, ages 6, 9 and 11.
• When the defendant’s wife walked in front of the vehicle, the defendant told the children to “keep your seat belt on” and drove the SUV directly into his wife.
• After colliding with the victim, the car turned onto its side. Giraldo climbed over his child seated in the front passenger seat and through a window and stabbed his wife in the chest.
• The victim suffered severe neurological damage, broken bones in her leg and a stab wound that punctured her liver.
• She survived, but has not regained consciousness and has been under medical care since the attack.

Assistant District Attorney Audra Beerman, Deputy Bureau Chief of the District Attorney’s Domestic Violence Bureau, prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Mary Kate Quinn, Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Special Prosecutions Division Joyce A. Smith.