A father who ordered his children to “buckle up” before mowing down their mother in his car shocked the courtroom at his sentencing on Friday when he forgave his wife – because she didn’t honor him enough.
Stephen Giraldo, 36, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the attempted murder of his estranged wife Sophia Giraldo, 41. He addressed her in court even though she was not present after she suffered “severe neurological damage” in his attack on December 27.
“Sophia, I forgive you for not respecting me as your temporary husband, I forgive you for not respecting me as a good and loving father,” he told a stunned Queens court.
His victim’s family reacted with outrage to the tirade, and Sophia’s father, Pastor John Brooks, told the New York Post that their loved ones were “horrified” by the comments.
Stephen Giraldo, 36, was sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison for the attempted murder of his estranged wife Sophia Giraldo, 41
He shocked the courtroom when he addressed his victim in his remarks and said: “Sophia, I forgive you for not respecting me as your temporary husband, I forgive you for not honoring me as a good and loving father. “
Sophia Giraldo’s family said they were “appalled” by her estranged husband’s statement in court, but said it was “typical of his personality to date.”
Giraldo was branded “manipulative, deceitful, self-centered” by Brooks and his brutal attack shocked the nation two days after Christmas last year.
The former MTA bus driver, who pleaded guilty in September, intentionally mowed down Sophia with her children in his Ford Explorer.
After the cold-blooded attack, Giraldo leaned over one of his children and got out of the car to repeatedly stab his estranged wife, prosecutors said.
Sophia hosted a podcast called “Unfiltered and Free” in which she described herself as a “survivor of betrayal, trauma and abuse” and spoke about her “toxic” marriage before the tragedy, an aspect that some have speculated about that he was a motive for the horrific attack.
After the sentencing, Giraldo was banned from contact with Sophia and her children, but he took the opportunity to talk to her before the sentence was imposed.
After Sophia’s family read heartbreaking headlines, he initially appeared to pay a touching tribute to her, saying: “For Sophia, I never imagined this would be our new normal.”
Sophia hosted a podcast called “Unfiltered and Free,” in which she described herself as a “survivor of betrayal, trauma and abuse” and talked about her “toxic” marriage
“Please forgive me for this unspeakable, unimaginable, unimaginable pain I have caused you.”
“The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you in any way, shape or form.” “I will always love you, you will always have a special place in my heart and I pray for your recovery.”
But Giraldo then quickly changed his mind when he told the court he had “forgiven” the mother-of-three.
In a bizarre exchange, he also began to make some “helpful suggestions” about topics his children’s new guardian should talk to them about over dinner, but the judge quickly cut him off.
“We’re not going to do dinner table issues.” “We’re not doing that,” Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Yavinsky said.
Giraldo begged for forgiveness for himself before attempting to “recommend two books,” which was again rebuffed by Yavinsky, who told him, “We don’t need book recommendations.”
The 36-year-old’s insistence on presenting recommendations at the hearing was criticized by Sophia’s father, who said afterwards: “His wife should say, ‘I forgive you’ and then have a whole list of… that are characteristic of.” who he was.’
He forgave Sophia for Giraldo’s comments because she didn’t honor me as a good and loving father. Her loved ones condemned his comments, saying he was “manipulative, deceitful, self-centered.”
Giraldo rammed the car into Sophia before it plowed into her house. He then “climbed over his son” to continue the frantic attack, stabbing her three times with a knife
Footage of the horrific incident shows Giraldo, a former MTA bus driver, waiting outside the building where his wife lived with his headlights on before the horrific attack on December 27th
Surveillance cameras captured the horrific attack that put Giraldo behind bars. It started with footage of the bus driver waiting outside her home in Flushing, Queens, headlights on.
At around 5:15 a.m., Sophia left her house and walked toward the SUV where he was waiting.
With his children in the back seat, he asked them to buckle up before accelerating into his wife.
He careened into her and then into the side of the property before crawling out the passenger window and stabbing her three times with a knife.
According to prosecutors, Giraldo “crawled over his son” so that he could continue the horrific crime.
Although she survived the brutal attack, Sophia suffered severe neurological damage, broken bones in her leg and a stab wound that pierced her liver.
The children were not injured in the accident and Brooks said at Friday’s hearing that they are doing “much better.”
In a statement following the sentencing, District Attorney Katz called the crime “one of the most brutal cases we have ever prosecuted.”
“Telling your children to buckle up, intentionally hitting their mother and then climbing over your son to continue the attack with a knife is unreasonable.”
“By holding the defendant accountable and obtaining a lengthy prison sentence, we hope we have achieved a measure of justice on behalf of the victim and her loved ones.”
The couple had three children together, but Sophia filed for divorce in August 2022 and repeatedly spoke about her “toxic” marriage on her podcast
Sophia also said that the situation was “really out of control” before adding: “Something has to change.”
Some linked the attack to Sophia’s podcast, as she had railed against her estranged husband and branded their marriage “toxic” just days earlier.
She spoke openly about the breakdown of her marriage and had filed for divorce in August, months before the incident, and also ran a life coaching business for women.
His wife said during a Dec. 12 episode that she knew firsthand how to “live a life turned upside down by a toxic relationship.”
She also spoke about why she decided to end her marriage, saying: “I was trying to figure out whether I was going to leave my marriage or not. “I’ve been in the middle of a lot of emotional turmoil, a lot of toxicity and a lot of abuse for a long time spent.
“It was almost like my brain was saying, ‘You’ve got this, you’ve got this, you’ve got that.’ And I had it.”
Just days before Giraldo struck, she called their relationship “really out of control” and declared that “something has to change.”