NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- A woman was "fighting for her life" at a hospital after she was stabbed and slashed by a man asking for money at a Queens subway station, prosecutors said after charging a suspect with attempted murder.
The unprovoked attack took place around 8:30 p.m. Sunday as the 23-year-old victim was exiting the Jamaica-Van Wyck E-line station in Richmond Hill, according to police and the office of Queens D.A. Melinda Katz.
As she was leaving the station, a man asked her for money—and then suddenly stabbed and tried to rob her, Katz said.
He stabbed her multiple times in the torso, leaving her with a punctured liver and lung, according to Katz, who said the victim's face was also slashed.
She was hospitalized at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.
"A young woman is fighting for her life after being stabbed in an unprovoked attack as she exited the subway system," Katz said in a statement. "Millions of New Yorkers rely on our mass transit system, and we will aggressively prosecute those that commit violence on our subways."
According to reports, good Samaritans came to the victim's aid and restrained the suspect, Randol Contreras, until police arrived.
Contreras, 24, was charged with second-degree attempted murder, as well as first-degree assault, two counts of first-degree attempted robbery, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
He was arraigned late Monday and remanded to custody. He's due back in court on Friday.