NEW YORK (TCN) — A 43-year-old man will spend almost four decades behind bars for slashing his former girlfriend with a box cutter and stabbing her multiple times at her workplace.
According to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, a judge sentenced Rakien Figueroa, also known as Rakeem Figueroa, on July 23 to 38 years in prison. A jury previously convicted him in March of second-degree attempted murder, two counts of first-degree assault, second-degree burglary, and second-degree assault.
On Dec. 2, 2022, Figueroa reportedly took the 39-year-old victim’s cellphone from her workplace, and they got into an argument. Prosecutors said the defendant “slashed the victim’s face with a box cutter, causing a severe 8-inch laceration that required reconstructive repair and resulted in significant nerve and gland damage.”
Figueroa reportedly fled and “removed his ankle monitor that he was required to wear under federal supervision.”
According to the district attorney’s office, two days later, Figueroa hid in the victim’s closet inside her New Jersey home and attacked her again. He allegedly “jumped out of the closet with a hammer when the victim and her sister came home” and pushed his former girlfriend to the ground before pressing his boot against her throat. Prosecutors said the victim struggled to breathe.
On the morning of Jan. 10, 2023, Figueroa smashed the front door of the victim’s workplace with a rock and stabbed his former girlfriend multiple times with a knife. She suffered life-threatening injuries, including ones to her neck, face, arm, back, and kidney, and she stayed in the surgical ICU for three days.
Figueroa fled following the stabbing but was arrested on Jan. 17, 2023, after he was found hiding in a family member’s closet.
In a statement, Gonzalez said, “This defendant carried out a campaign of terror against a woman who once cared for him, leaving her with devastating physical and emotional injuries. His brutal and repeated violence showed a complete disregard for her life and for the law. With today’s sentence, he’s being held accountable and will no longer pose a threat to her or anyone else.”
