BRONX, NY – A parolee has been accused of staging a horrific unprovoked attack in a Bronx elevator, where he allegedly stabbed a 75-year-old great-grandmother multiple times, leaving her with a punctured lung. The assailant, identified as Edwin Rios, 38, was denied bail after he was charged with attempted murder.
The shocking incident occurred on Easter Sunday around 11:30 a.m. Police say that Rios followed the victim, Zenona Ramos, into her apartment building on Morris Avenue near East Burnside Avenue and attacked her. She suffered multiple bleeding cuts and a punctured lung, according to the criminal complaint.
Rios is reported to have assaulted Ramos without uttering a word to her. Ramos, who is diabetic and recovering from a recent operation, stated that Rios reopened all her wounds during the attack.
A chilling account from the victim’s daughter, Mirian Ramos Garcia, revealed that Rios casually stated, “Take care,” and left the scene after the attack. Describing the attacker, Garcia referred to him as “a devil.”
Ramos was found covered in blood, banging on her neighbor’s doors for help. She is currently in stable condition at St. Barnabas Hospital, but required 40 stitches in one hand. Rios, now also facing multiple assault charges alongside the criminal possession of a weapon and harassment, is due back in court on Friday.
Authorities revealed that Rios was on parole, due to expire on June 30, 2024, from a similar offense that took place in October 2012. He had followed a 22-year-old woman from a Queens bus and stabbed her twice in the back. Rios also has a 2013 arson charge on his record.