NYC stabbing spree suspect appears before a judge, prompting Mayor Adams to tout his mental illness removal policy
NEW YORK -- We're learning more about one of the victims in the deadly stabbing spree in Manhattan.
Angel Gustavo Lata was a 36-year-old construction worker and the first to be fatally attacked on Monday, allegedly by 51-year-old Ramon Rivera, who is facing first-degree murder charges and appeared in court on Tuesday.
Prosecutors say Rivera was homeless and was just released from prison in October for burglary and an assault on a correction officer.
Rivera's attorney asked that his client get a psychiatric exam before submitting a bail application, and the judge granted it.
Lata "was always a father figure to me"
It was a difficult day for Lata's family to see Rivera in court. He showed no emotion as he appeared in the same white Tyvek suit he was wearing Monday night when he was walked by police.
"He was always a father figure to me," a nephew said. "Thousands of people in Manhattan and why? Out of everyone, he chose my guy."
The nephew said Lata immigrated from Ecuador 20 years ago, and was raising him in the Bronx. The family also brought to court Lata's dog.
His aunt, Mariana Lata, said she told him Monday not to leave the house without eating breakfast, and that he was always early to work.
Gabriela Landi, Lata's sister, said in Spanish, "I can't believe he isn't here."
Together, the family members demanded to know why Rivera wasn't taken off the streets in the first place, given his history of arrests and mental illness both in and out of New York.
They said a funeral will be held in New York and his body will be flown back to Ecuador for burial.
Timeline of attacks
Surveillance footage shows what appears to be Rivera slide a kitchen knife into his sweater at around 8:30 a.m. on West 19th Street, moments before he allegedly stabbed Lata twice.
Landi said he always got to work early and that he and his co-workers were setting up a ladder when he was attacked.
"He was outside with the builder and he tried to put it down with the ladder," Landi said. "[His attacker] no say anything."
The Manhattan District attorney said Rivera then made his way to the East River near 30th Street, where he fatally stabbed 67-year-old Chang Wong, who was fishing.
Police said the final victim was 36-year-old Wilma Augustin, a mother of an 8-year-old, who was sitting on a park bench on First Avenue near 42nd Street.
"That family came here to pursue the American dream, and now that child ... how do you explain to that child what happened?" Mayor Eric Adams said.
A police source says Rivera told police while being questioned he didn't target them due to race, age or sex, but randomly because they appeared alone and distracted.
Rivera, who is due back in court Friday, did have one open case for shoplifting, allegedly committed the same day last month that he was released from Rikers Island. He also had similar open cases in New Jersey, which the judge said he will now have to answer to.
Adams again touts involuntary removal of those with mental illness off streets
The mayor said his plans to remove people with serious mental illness off the streets involuntarily is the solution, and things need to change legislatively.
"We have to take those who can't take care of themselves off our street and give them the humane care that they deserve," Adams said, adding, "That's a wake-up call for our criminal justice system and psych system. Everyone said I was inhumane, we just want to institutionalize people. Well, this is a result of that."
The mayor was referring to the pushback and lawsuits against the city's involuntary removal policy launched in 2022, where clinically trained teams forcibly transport people experiencing severe mental health issues to hospitals.
"I think if the mayor's involuntary hospitalization policy was working, maybe we wouldn't be seeing the issues that we have seen," said Matt Kudish, CEO of the National Alliance on Mental Illness of New York City.
The organization says forced hospitalization should be a last resort. A city spokesperson told CBS News New York the program isn't as robust because of the opposition. Still, on average, around 126 people are being removed every week.
"Unfortunately, the mayor is not sharing what's happening to those individuals, what kind of treatment they get, where they go next. They are very often, our understanding is, discharged back to homelessness," Kudish said.
The mayor is also pushing for the passage of the Supportive Interventions Act, which he says would create more support and space for New Yorkers facing mental health and homelessness.
"The street corner is not a psychiatric ward," Adams said.
Gov. Hochul weighs in, lawmakers pitch new legislation
Gov. Kathy Hochul spoke out on Tuesday, saying, "I agree with the mayor that the system here in the city failed and I will be happy to bring my state resources to analyze what actually failed."
The governor says more than 700 homeless New Yorkers, many with mental health issues, have transitioned into supportive housing under her leadership.
In response to the stabbing spree, state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal and and Assemblymember-elect Micah Lasher proposed the H.E.L.P. Act, a bill that expands which health professionals can perform evaluations for involuntary hospitalizations.