The man accused of randomly stabbing a Bronx teen dead on Friday went on an unhinged rant during a court appearance on Sunday, declaring that he was in communication with Satan.
Waldo Mejia, 29, stands accused of killing Carlos Rijos, 14, during a horrific stabbing on Jan. 10 as the teenager was on his way to school. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, in announcing Mejia’s arrest Saturday, said the suspect had a lengthy rap sheet and a long history of mental health issues.
Since his arrest, Meija lashed out at reporters and photographers during his perp walk on Jan. 11, then went on a tirade at his arraignment the next day in Bronx Criminal Court.
“I’m with Satan! Get ready to f**king suffer!” he hollered during the earing.
Sources with knowledge of interrogation indicated that Mejia allegedly told them Satan had instructed him to kill Rijos as he stood on the sidewalk in front of 300 East 138 St. at about 9:25 a.m. on Jan. 10 — stabbing him in a disturbing, unprovoked attack.
“He called his father and told his father that he couldn’t breathe and that he was scared, and his father heard him dying,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said.
However, on Sunday morning, Mejia did not appear to show much remorse, again returning to fire and brimstone rhetoric in which he invoked Satan once more.
“Get ready to f**king suffer along with me,” telling court officers, “I am going to snap your neck.”
This comes hours after he also threatened journalists who tried to ask why he murdered little Rijos.
“I don’t know what y’all are doing here,” Mejia said as he was placed in the back of an unmarked police vehicle. “I am going to beat your asses.”
Mejia is charged with murder, manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon; he was also arranged attempted murder charges for a Jan. 5 incident in Mott Haven, during which he reportedly attacked a 38-year-old man walking down the stairs leading to the 3rd Avenue-East 138th Street subway station.
The victim suffered a gash to the left arm. EMS took the victim to a local hospital, where he received several stitches to close the wound.
“Mr. Mejia is a career criminal with four prior unsealed arrests. The most recent one occurred on Nov. 27, 2024, when Mr. Mejia was arrested for stabbing another victim’s ring camera with a kitchen knife, and importantly, was released on his own recognizance the very next day,” Tisch said on Jan. 11. “In 2019, Mr. Mejia was arrested for burglary and arson after lighting another victim’s residence on fire. And in 2017, he was found to be in possession of a 9 mm gun loaded with nine rounds, including one in the chamber.”
When arrested, Mejia was found to be in possession of a bloody knife believed to have been used to kill the teen.
At his arraignment, Meija was ordered held without bail and to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. He is next expected to appear in court on Jan. 17.
