Third Person Dies from Deranged Man’s Knife Attacks, Suspect Charged with Murder
Two men died at the hospital shortly after they were stabbed in random unprovoked attacks on Nov. 18. The third victim, a 30-year-old woman, fought for her life but also succumbed to her wounds that evening. The suspect has been charged with three counts of first degree murder.
| 19 Nov 2024 | 12:01
NYC Mayor Eric Adams giving a presser on a Nov. 18 following stabbing attack that began in Chelsea shortly after 8 a.m. and then suspect attacked two people on the East Side. Two men had already died while a 30-yearold woman was clinging to life. She also subsequently died. The suspect was captured and charged with three counts of first degree murder. (
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Police officers at the scene of one of three fatal stabbings, reportedly committed by one suspect, on Nov. 18. Ramon Rivera, 51, has been taken into custody in connection with the attacks and charged with three counts of first degree murder. (
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Police cars near the site of one of multiple knife attacks on First Ave. near 42nd St., reportedly committed by one suspect on Nov. 18. (
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A third person has died from a deranged man’s knife attacks in three separate incidents across Manhattan on Nov. 18.
The suspect was indentifed as Ramon Rivera, 51, a homeless man with a long rap sheet who has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder.
Two of the victims have been identified: His first victim in the spree that started on 19th Street in Chelsea shortly after 8 a.m. on Nov. 18th was identified as Angel Lata Landi, 36, a construction worker from Peekskill, NY; his third victim was identified as Wilma Augustin, 36, of Manhattan. She leaves behind an eight year old daughter. She was stabbed on First Ave. just south of the U.N. Police said the other victim is a 67-year-old Asian man who was fishing along the East River when he was stabbed. His name has not been released pending notification of next of kin.
Police said the attacks were unprovoked.
One reporter said the address given by Wilma Augustin was a migrant shelter. “It does not matter whether a migrant shelter or not. An eight year old child does not have a mother. I don’t know how to handle that.”
Adams said at his weekly press conference that one of the problems is that mental unstable people are allowed to stay in the general population.
”This is a result of not taking action and ignoring people that need help,” said Adams of the attacks that police said were unprovoked. No words were exchanged between the suspect and his victims, police said at a Nov. 18 press conference. “We walk past people every day that do not have the ability to care for themselves,” Adams said, urging that changes to state laws are needed.
He said psychiatric beds disappeared from city hospitals after COVID and have not been replaced. “The system has been failing a long time,” Adams said. Too often when a person with mental health problems is brought to a hospital, he said, “They give them medication for a day and the next day when they calm down, they put them back on the street.”
He said laws have to be strengthened to permit involuntary admissions to mental health care and was critical of those who say involuntary admission to mental health facilities in inhumane.
“Advocating to get more pyschiatric beds is imperative,” he said. “The street is not a psychiatric ward. We have to change our mindset.”
In a subsequent press conference on Nov. 19, Adams commended the taxi driver who followed the suspect after his third stabbing attack and alerted a police officer who subsequently brought him into custody.
Adams said that sometime after the first of second attack, police distributed a photo of the suspect to all police officers and told them to be on the look out.