A man convicted of stabbing a 32-year-old transgender woman outside a homeless shelter on Randall’s Island in July 2023 has been sentenced to 25 years in state prison, prosecutors announced Thursday.
Jesse Diaz Ramos, 34, originally from California and living in New York at the time of the incident, was found guilty on May 1 of attempted murder in the second degree as a hate crime and assault in the first degree as a hate crime. He was sentenced on May 29.
According to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, a jury heard during the trial that Ramos approached the victim on the afternoon of July 21, 2023, as she waited at a bus stop outside the shelter.
Prosecutors said Ramos questioned the victim about her sexual orientation, used an anti-gay slur, and struck her in the face. After the victim hit him back, Ramos punched her again, then pulled a knife from his backpack and stabbed her in the chest.
The victim sustained serious injuries, including a partially collapsed lung and punctured stomach and diaphragm. Prosecutors said Ramos made several attempts to stab her again before she fled into the shelter, where officers from the Department of Homeless Services assisted her and helped get her to Harlem Hospital for emergency surgery.
Ramos fled the scene but was arrested a few hours later. Officers recovered his backpack, which contained the knife used in the attack, according to prosecutors.
“Jesse Diaz Ramos was convicted at trial and will serve a significant prison term for viciously stabbing a woman in a homophobic, unprovoked and nearly fatal attack,” Bragg said in a statement. “Ramos, emboldened by his biases, selected and assaulted the victim, seriously injuring and traumatizing her.”
Bragg added that he hoped the victim would take comfort in knowing that Ramos has been brought to justice, and “I hope she continues to recover from the reeling effects of this violent conduct.”
Ramos’s attorney told amNewYork he intends to appeal both the conviction and the 25-year sentence.
