Hispanic Man Arrested For Hitting Mother In Front Of Six Children

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

A 32-year-old mother was killed Wednesday after a driver attacked them at a grocery store in a northern New York suburb.

Melissa DeLoatch was in her car with seven other members of her family. They were all rushed to the hospital for minor injuries, but she was pronounced dead.

Authorities said Jason Méndez, 35, a resident of Washingtonville, New York, after an argument, intentionally drove to the car containing the woman, her husband, 35, and six children, all under the age of 10, including a baby in a car. The altercation took place in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven store in Haverstraw, Rockland County.

After initially hitting the family, police said, Méndez backed down and hit them again.

Police said the initial discussion may have arisen after the woman's husband asked Méndez not to blow cigarette smoke near their children.

Mendez was holding a knife when the police arrived on the scene, and when he refused to release him, officers attacked him, CBS News reports.

Haverstraw Police Captain Martin Lund called the deadly confrontation "a tragedy."

"It doesn't happen very often in our community," he said. "It is a tragedy that happened today."

Mendez was charged with second-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder and is due to return to court next Tuesday.