A father who ordered his children to ‘tighten up’ before mowing down their mother in his car shocked the courtroom at his sentencing on Friday when he forgave his wife – for not honoring her should.
Stephen Giraldo, 36, was sentenced to 25 years behind bars for the attempted murder of his estranged wife Sophia Giraldo, 41, who went on trial in absentia after suffering ‘severe neurological damage’ ‘ in his December 27 attack.
“Sophia, I’m sorry you didn’t respect me as your intended husband, I’m sorry you didn’t respect me as a good, loving father,” he told a stunned Queens court.
His victim’s family reacted with outrage at the insults, with Sophia’s father, pastor John Brooks, telling New York Post her loved ones were ‘horrified’ by these comments.
Stephen Giraldo, 36, was sentenced Friday to 25 years behind bars for the attempted murder of his estranged wife, Sophia Giraldo, 41.
He shocked the courtroom as he addressed his victim in his words, saying: “Sofia, I’m sorry for not respecting me as your intended husband, I’m sorry for not respecting 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 ‘characteristic of who he has been’
Giraldo was branded ‘manipulative, deceitful, self-absorbed’ by Brooks, with his vicious attack shocking the nation two days after Christmas last year.
The former MTA bus driver, who pleaded guilty in September, intentionally ran over Sophia and their children inside his Ford Explorer.
After the cold-blooded attack, Giraldo then 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” – describing herself as a “survivor of betrayal-trauma and abuse” – and spoke about her “toxic” marriage before the tragedy, an aspect that some have speculated was a motive in the horrific attack.
Giraldo was banned from contacting Sophia and their children when he was sentenced, but took the opportunity to reach out to her before the prison extension.
After poignant impact statements were read from Sophia’s family, he initially appeared to pay a touching tribute as he said: ‘For Sophia, I never would have thought this would be our new normal.
Sophia hosted a podcast called “Unfiltered and Free” – describing herself as a “betrayal-trauma-abuse survivor” – and spoke about her “toxic” marriage.
‘Please forgive me for this unspeakable, unimaginable, unimaginable hurt 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 tune as he told the court he “forgave” the mother-of-three.
In an odd exchange, he also began giving some ‘helpful suggestions’ about topics his children’s new carer should talk to them about over dinner, which the judge quickly cut short.
‘We’re not going to do dinner table topics. We’re not doing that,” said Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Yavinsky.
Giraldo apologized for himself before attempting to ‘recommend two books’, which was again shot down by Yavinsky who told him: ‘We don’t need book recommendations.’
The 36-year-old’s insistence on bringing recommendations to the hearing was criticized by Sofia’s father, who then said: ‘(To) tell his wife ‘I’m sorry’ and then have a whole list of… this is characteristic of who he was.’
Giraldo’s remarks he forgave Sophia ‘not honoring me as a good and loving father’, her loved ones condemned his comments and said he was ‘manipulative, deceitful, self-absorbed’
Giraldo crashed the car into Sofia before driving it into her home. He then ‘climbed over his son’ to continue the rampage, stabbing him three times
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 Dec. 27 attack.
Footage of the horrific attack that landed Giraldo behind bars was captured on surveillance cameras, beginning with the bus driver waiting outside her home in Flushing, Queens, with his headlights on.
Around 5:15 a.m., Sophia walked out of her house and toward the SUV where he was waiting.
With his children in the back seat, he told them to ‘fasten your seat belts’ before speeding into his wife.
He drove into it and then the side of the property before crawling out the passenger window and stabbing her three times.
According to prosecutors, Giraldo ‘dragged his son’ so he could continue the vicious crime spree.
Although she survived the vicious attack, Sophia suffered severe neurological damage, broken bones in her legs and a stab wound that pierced her liver.
The children were not injured in the crash and Brooks said at Friday’s hearing that they were doing ‘much better’.
In a statement following the sentencing, District Attorney Katz called the crime “one of the most brutal cases we have prosecuted.”
“Telling your children to ‘tighten up’, purposefully stab their mother and then climb over your son to continue the stabbing is unconscionable.
“In holding the defendant accountable and securing a lengthy prison sentence, we hope we have achieved a measure of justice on behalf of the victim and her loved ones.”
The couple shared three children together, but Sophia filed for divorce in August 2022 and repeatedly discussed their ‘toxic’ marriage on her podcast.
Sophia also said the situation was “really out of control” before adding “something has to change”.
Some linked the attack to Sophia’s podcast, as she had lashed out at her estranged husband just days earlier and called their marriage ‘toxic’.
She openly discussed the breakdown of their marriage and had filed for divorce in August, months before the incident, and also ran a women’s business.
His wife said she knew firsthand about ‘navigating a life turned upside down by a toxic relationship’ during a December 12 episode.
She also discussed why she decided to end her marriage, saying: ‘I was trying to figure out whether or not to leave my marriage. I spent a long time in the middle of a lot of emotional turmoil, a lot of toxicity, a lot of abuse.
“It was almost like my brain was saying, ‘You got this, you got this, you got this.’ And I had it.’
She called their relationship ‘really out of control’ and declared that ‘something has to change’, speaking just days before Giraldo struck.
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