A violent Bronx maniac accused of randomly stabbing and fatally stabbing a 14-year-old boy on his way to school was in court Sunday as he began an “insane” rant about the “White House” and “Al Qaeda.” was expelled from.
Waldo Mejia, 29, was brought before a judge Friday morning on suspicion of killing tragic teen Caleb Rios by putting a knife into his chest on East 138th Street. The suspect was also charged in an unrelated stabbing that Mejia allegedly committed about a week earlier.
Authorities charged Mejia, who lives right next door to the boy's family and directly across from the 40th Precinct, with second-degree murder, attempted murder and other charges in the violent crime.
The suspect, who has a long rap sheet and a history of mental illness, interrupted his first court appearance by shouting ramblings about world politics.
“He started yelling 'White House!' and 'Al Qaeda!'” a court official told the Post. “Now he's back there making a scene. He's just a madman – you can tell by the look on his face.”
Mejia's attorney, Paul Horowitz, said the court remanded his client before also ordering a psychiatric evaluation.
“I'm not going to defend him going forward,” Horowitz said. “I only came here for the arraignment. …He acted out. He's just screaming nonsense!”
Caleb Rios was walking to school near Lincoln Avenue and 138th Street around 9 a.m. when Mejia allegedly launched the brutal attack, and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the state's legal system was not working. said, “We will continue.''[s] To make us fail. ”
Prosecutors said Caleb lay dying from his wounds and made a heartbreaking final phone call to his father.
“He called his father and told him he couldn't breathe and was scared, and his father heard him die,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said at a news conference Saturday. “The level of this tragedy is unfathomable.”
Authorities rushed the boy to Lincoln Medical Center, where he died from his injuries.
“Today, a 14-year-old boy passed away,” Tisch said at the time. “Families are devastated and the city is grieving, but the systems we have in place to deal with repeat offenders and individuals with severe mental health issues do not satisfy us. It continues.”
Rios' family declined to speak to The Post on Sunday, with one young man telling a reporter through the closed door of his apartment that the family “wants to keep it a secret.”
Mejia is also charged with attempted murder for allegedly stabbing another man near Alexander Street and 138th Street Station in Mott Haven on Jan. 5 at about 3:50 a.m., according to a criminal complaint. .
During the attack, Mejia allegedly stabbed the 38-year-old victim with enough force that the knife “completely penetrated the victim's left arm and entered his chest cavity, causing a laceration to the artery in his left arm.” . “He suffered significant blood loss and loss of consciousness, requiring life-saving surgery at a local Bronx hospital,” the complaint states.
The encounter resulted in Mejia being charged with two counts of assault, according to court documents.
The suspect has at least four previous criminal charges, including one in May 2017 when he was arrested by police with a loaded 9mm handgun and another for setting fire to the lobby of his ex-girlfriend's building. In April 2019, authorities announced that the charges include arson.
He later admitted a charge of arson by reckless endangerment and was granted conditional release, officials said.
Mejia is known for terrorizing his neighbors, including stabbing one of his Ring doorbell cameras with a large knife in November.
The apartment resident, who declined to give his name to the Post on Sunday, was pleased to hear that his ill-natured neighbor, who also tried to kick in his door, was now in custody.
“It was really scary for days on end,” the man said. “When they got him, and he did the same thing to my camera, and then three days later he was in the building? I was scared and crazy.
“We all knew what happened to that kid could happen to me,” he said of Caleb. “The same thing could have happened to my wife. It could have happened to my mother.”
A young couple who live just down the street from the alleged killer described Mejia as “insane.”
“We're all afraid of him,” the second man said. “Every night around 4 or 5 a.m., I could hear him walking around the apartment yelling, 'Leave me alone!'
“And then in the morning, when I saw him collapsed…I knew he had been up all night,” he continued. “I nodded at him and he just looked at me with the same scared face he had when he stabbed the camera.
“We all knew he was mentally ill, but we never expected him to do something like this.”
