A New York man was sentenced to 25 years in prison this week for mowing down his estranged wife while their kids were still in the vehicle and then stabbing her, WABC-TV reports.
But despite being at the mercy of the court, 37-year-old Stephen Giraldo still blamed his comatose wife for what he did.
“Sophia, I forgive you for not respecting me as your pre-designational husband. I forgive you for not honoring me as a good and loving father,” Giraldo said, according to the Daily Mail.
Two days after Christmas last December, Giraldo told his three young kids to “buckle up” before he rammed his Ford Explorer into the children’s mother, 41-year-old Sophia Giraldo.
The brutal attack was recorded on surveillance cameras. Around 5:15 a.m., Sophia walked out of her home in Flushing, Queens, and toward the SUV.
After striking Sophia, the vehicle flipped on its side and Stephen climbed over one of the kids who was in the passenger seat so he could stab the children’s mother. Sophia survived the attack, but she was left severe injuries, including major neurological damage, a punctured liver and broken bones. She remains in a coma.
Giraldo in September pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted murder, admitting that he intentionally floored the SUV to hit his wife.
Before Giraldo began blaming Sophia in his statement to the court, he had expressed regret and begged for forgiveness.
“Please forgive me for this unspeakable, unfathomable, unimaginable hurt I have inflicted upon you,” Stephen said, according to WABC-TV. “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.”
Sophia’s father, Chuck Brooks, a pastor, told the judge that the violent episode left his grandchildren “emotionally damaged, according to WABC-TV.
“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 told the court, according to WABC-TV.
Giraldo is under court order to have no contact with his kids, ages 6, 9 and 11.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz issued a statement after the sentence was handed down.
“This is one of the most brutal cases we have prosecuted,” Katz said, according to WABC-TV. “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.”
Sophia reportedly produced a podcast in which she described herself as a “’survivor of Betrayal-Trauma & Abuse” and described her marriage as “toxic,” according to the Daily Mail.
During Friday’s sentencing hearing, Sophia’s best friend did not mince words with Giraldo.
“There isn’t much that I want to say to you that doesn’t come straight from the pits of hell,” the friend told the court, according to WCBS-TV.
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[Feature Photo: Sophia Giraldo/Facebook]
