New York City Mayor Eric Adams has questioned why a homeless man accused of killing three people in a stabbing rampage across Manhattan was allowed to walk free on bail for other alleged crimes.
Ramon Rivera, 51, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the fatal stabbings of three people in separate random attacks across the city on Monday.
Authorities said Rivera was arrested after he was found with blood on his clothes and two kitchen knives.
Adams said the stabbings were a “clear example” of failures in the criminal justice system.
“He [Rivera] was sentenced a few months ago, and there’s a real question that we need to look at on why he was out on the streets, and he has some severe mental health issues that should have been examined,” Adams said.
“Three New Yorkers. Unprovoked attacks that left us searching for answers on how something like this could happen.”
Police said Rivera’s first victim was construction worker Angel Lata Landi, 36, who was stabbed on Monday morning on West 19th Street while he was standing by his work site.
Around two hours later, Rivera allegedly attacked a 67-year-old man fishing in the East River near East 30th Street. Both men died shortly after the stabbings.
Nearly thirty minutes after he allegedly attacked the fisherman, Rivera then stabbed Wilma Augustin, 36, multiple times on East 42nd Street.
The rampage ended when cabdriver who witnessed the third attack alerted police and Rivera was apprehended.
Police are investigating what sparked the attacks.
“He just walked up to them and began to attack them with the knives,” NYPD chief of detectives Joseph Kenny said.
“No words exchanged. No property taken. Just attacked, viciously.”
Rivera has been arrested eight times in New York City this year, NBC News reported. He was released from jail in mid-October for time served on burglary and assault charges, NBC News reported.
The day he walked free, he was arrested for grand larceny for stealing a $1,495 acrylic bowl from a Soho store.
Rivera was reportedly on bail pending trial in the grand larceny case.
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