The homeless suspect behind Monday’s stabbing rampage in Manhattan that left three people dead has been hit with first-degree murder charges.
Ramon Rivera, 51, faced reporters late Monday night as police officers — including 19-year veteran Robert Garvey, who had initially stopped the suspect in Midtown earlier in the day — escorted him from the 10th Precinct stationhouse in Chelsea. The suspect wore a white Tyvek suit and remained silent while a legion of reporters and photographers hurled questions at him about why he allegedly committed the heinous crimes.
Police say Rivera allegedly stabbed three people at random in as many attacks between 8 a.m. and noon on Nov. 19. All three victims would die of their injuries. Sources familiar with the case said Rivera allegedly confessed to the deadly stabbings, telling investigators that he chose his victims at random, and without any motive.
Timeline of a killer
Law enforcement sources said Rivera, who had been staying at the Bellevue Men’s Shelter in Kips Bay, walked to the Chelsea Club, a luxury apartment complex located at 444 West 19th St. in Chelsea, at about 8:22 a.m. on Monday morning. Just before the attack, Rivera was caught on a surveillance camera wearing a sweater, gloves, and a mask.
Moments later, he stabbed 36-year-old construction worker Angel Lata Landi before fleeing. Lata Landi, a resident of Peekskill in Westchester County, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Rivera next allegedly struck at around 10:30 a.m. near 500 East 30th St. in Kips Bay where he stabbed a 67-year-old fisherman multiple times in the abdomen. The victim was also rushed to nearby Bellevue Hospital, but could not be saved. Police have yet to release his identity, pending family notification.
Finally, at 10:55 a.m., Rivera allegedly set himself on his last victim in the shadow of the United Nations on 42nd Street and 1st Avenue — where he viciously stabbed 36-year-old Wilma Augusti in the chest and left arm.
Augusti, who lived on West 38th Street, was treated at Cornell Medical Center, but died of her injuries later that evening.
According to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, a cab driver spotted Rivera, who was brandishing knives, not long after the third and final stabbing. The driver flagged down Police Officer Garvey, who apprehended the suspect near the corner of 46th Street and 1st Avenue just before 11:30 a.m. Monday morning.
“I heard a commotion, stepped outside and reacted,” Garvey said.
Rivera was found with two large kitchen knives splattered with blood. His clothes were also covered in blood, police said.
Sources familiar with the investigation report that Rivera is extremely mentally disturbed and has been previously arrested in New Jersey, Ohio, and Florida for violent assaults.
In New York, law enforcement sources report that the perpetrator was cuffed back in October of this year for a slew of burglaries, but was held without bail. He was initially scheduled to return to court on Dec. 3 for a hearing on the charges.
“It is a clear example, the criminal justice system, mental health system continues to fail New Yorkers,” Mayor Eric Adams said during a press conference at the 17th Precinct on Nov. 18 regarding the spree. “Three New Yorkers, unprovoked attacks that left us searching for answers on how something like this could happen.”
Rivera has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder, and faces life imprisonment without parole if convicted.
