‘She stabbed me’: Woman accused of killing boyfriend in his Harlem apartment
MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) — A woman is accused of stabbing her boyfriend to death in his Harlem apartment after the man told his neighbor she attacked him before passing out, authorities said.
“She stabbed me…. I think I’m going to pass out,” Alejandro Santos said before collapsing in the second-floor hallway, according to the criminal complaint.
Michelle Hernandez, 44, is accused of stabbing Santos, 47, twice in the chest and once in the arm in the apartment at West 147th Street at around 1:40 p.m. Sunday, authorities said.
Officers followed a trail of blood in the apartment and found the victim heavily bleeding with Hernandez standing over his body, covered in blood, according to court records. Santos was rushed to the hospital but could not be saved.
Neighbors heard the couple arguing before the incident. One of them rushed up the stairs and asked the defendant what happened and Hernandez allegedly said, “He got stabbed three times. The knife is in the kitchen,” according to the complaint.
The neighbor then heard the defendant whisper to Santos in Spanish, “Don’t tell anyone who stabbed you or they’ll take me to jail,” prosecutors allege.
Hernadez initially told investigators the victim stabbed himself before she was arrested and charged with murder. Authorities found two bloody knives in the kitchen, along with surveillance cameras and cell phones, officials said.
The defendant pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail during her arraignment, according to court records.
Hernandez, who is allegedly a drug user, has had several previous assault arrests for attacking three people while she lived in various shelters, prosecutors said. She was staying at Santos’ apartment several times a week before the deadly encounter, officials said.
Her attorney could not be reached Wednesday.
Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the New York City area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.
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