'Not just a victim': Brutal Randall's Island attack on mom left family flailing

The daughter of the woman beaten and left for dead on Randall’s Island in May visibly trembled as the man accused of the attack was marched into the courtroom last week.

“ I need people to know that she's not just a victim,” Stephanie Rodas, 21, said in an interview before the court appearance. “She's my mother. She's my world. She has a family.”

Her mother, Diana Agudelo, is at Elmhurst Hospital after she suffered multiple skull fractures and a punctured temple. She regained consciousness earlier this month and is in intensive care, where she still can’t speak and has minimal use of her right side. This week, Rodas said her mother was diagnosed with a brain infection.

But the fact that Agudelo's alive is a miracle in itself, Rodas said. She underwent multiple surgeries to remove parts of her skull and, at one point, needed to be resuscitated. Rodas said doctors told her that her mother had little chance of survival.

Last week, a grand jury charged Miguel Jiraud, 30, with attempted murder for the May 16 beating.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Jiraud attacked Agudelo, an office cleaner at a Manhattan museum, as she biked home from work to her apartment in Queens, where she lives with her son and daughter.

The attack happened at roughly 11:30 p.m., officials said, after which Jiraud allegedly threw her e-bike in the Harlem River. Bragg alleged that Jiraud called 911 at 5 a.m. the next day, claiming to have discovered Agudelo during an early morning walk.

Rodas said her mother preferred to bike through Randall’s Island instead of taking the train because it was faster and she was afraid of being attacked on the train.

Jiraud pleaded not guilty during his appearance. He appeared calm and didn’t make eye contact with anyone in the gallery. He wore thin, frameless eyeglasses and wore his hair in twists down to his ears.

Jiraud is being held without bail and his attorney did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Even as major crimes drop throughout the city, public safety experts have raised alarms that felony assaults like this one are on the rise.

So far this year, there have been close to 13,000 felony assaults in the city — essentially the same number as last year and significantly higher compared to the years between 2003 and 2021, when they ranged between 8,000 to 9,000 annually.

Rodas said her mom tries to speak but can only shake her head yes and no. She can open her eyes, but can’t control them, Rodas said.

“If she does open them, I just see her cry,” she said. “She just always cries.”

Rodas said she visits her mother daily, and wears protective clothing to prevent infection.

The third-year student at John Jay College has spent the last month learning to “adult” —  handling the duties her mother always took care of, like writing the rent checks, dealing with health insurance, and finding a lawyer so she can get power of attorney over her mother and deal with her mother’s citizenship test, which was scheduled for this month.

“ I feel so lost, and I feel like I have no one to go to,” she said. “I just want to go to my mom, and I want to tell her all my problems and I want to ask for help. But she can't.”

Before her mom was attacked, Rodas said she was considering a career in counseling those accused of crimes because she believes that everyone always deserves help.

She said now she’s having second thoughts.

“ How could I advocate for someone who took away my whole life?” she said.