The suspect was last seen wearing a hooded sweatshirt. Police released this surveillance photo on Tuesday night. Credit: NYPD
A 17-year-old girl was attacked and stabbed multiple times on her way home from work in the Woodhaven section of Queens on Monday night, police said.
The 17-year-old victim’s McDonalds shift ended around 10:05 p.m., police said. She stopped at a bodega for a sandwich around 11:10 p.m. on her way home. As she was opening the front door to her building around 11:25 p.m., a man attacked her from behind, stabbing her 11 times with a kitchen knife, police said. She was stabbed in the lower back and left side of her body from her upper tight to below her left armpit.
Cops said her alleged attacker said nothing and did not take anything from the girl. The kitchen knife, 10 inches long with a six-inch blade, was later found by police in the building’s vestibule. Cops said the knife will be tested for DNA.
The victim was reportedly unable to fight back and never saw her attacker’s face, cops said. She told police she has no idea what the motive for her attack could be.
Police said video from the bodega where she bought her sandwich does not show any customers besides her, but video from a nearby building shows a potential suspect 17 minutes prior to the attack. The victim can be seen approaching her building 17 minutes later, and the suspect is seen again, apparently crossing the street toward the victim.
The victim is in stable condition at Jamaica Hospital, police said. She has repeated that she does not know why she was attack and can not identify her attacker.
NBC 4 New York identified the victim as Natasha Martinez. Martinez’s mother reportedly told NBC 4 New Yorkshe lost a kidney and had to undergo a three-hour surgery.
Martinez’s mother said she heard her daughter call to her for help.
Police released a surveillance photo of the suspect on Tuesday night. He was last seen wearing a white hooded sweatshirt.
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
The NYPD is investigating whether this attack might be connected to another Queens attack on June 25th: a 36-year-old woman was assaulted around 5 a.m. by a man who slashed her throat. Cops said she was found lying on the sidewalk with stab wounds to her neck and torso. She survived the attack. No arrests have been made in that case and the investigation is ongoing, police said.
Laura Shin contributed reporting to this article.
Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat
