Family mourns teen girl stabbed outside Queens subway station; 15-year-old girl in custody
A teenage girl was fatally stabbed in the neck outside a Queens subway station — and a 15-year-old girl was later taken into custody for questioning, police said Thursday.
Sara Rivera, 17, was knifed outside the 46th St.-Bliss St. subway stop in Sunnyside about 9:35 p.m. Wednesday, cops said.
“She wasn’t just a sister, she was a best friend to me. She was always listening to what I had to say. She would always tell me her problems,” Sara’s 22-year-old brother said. “Overall she was a good person … Not every friend was there for her but the ones that were definitely friends for life.”
The slaying had striking parallels to the fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old girl, allegedly by a 15-year-old girl, at a Bronx building courtyard just last week.
In Wednesday’s slaying, medics rushed Sara from the scene at Queens Blvd. and 48th St. to Elmhurst Hospital but she could not be saved.
On Thursday, the teen was remembered as outgoing and caring by her heartbroken brother at the family’s Jackson Heights home.
“She would love to talk, she loved to express herself. Even if it wasn’t in the best of ways. She would still like to express herself,” her brother said. “She loved to go outside, she loved to explore and travel to different parts of New York City. We grew up in New Jersey. We were from Paterson.”
The victim was a senior at Queens Technical High School and had two older brothers and one older sister, said family. She was slain a block from school.
The victim’s brother said that Rivera sometimes had trouble getting along with other teens.
“Some of the kids that she would talk to she might not get along with,” he said. “She’s definitely had some problems in the past with many of her friends. And she would always still try to be friends with them no matter what would happen. And she would always argue and be overly expressive in a bad way sometimes.”
The killer dropped the murder weapon at the scene and ran off. A 15-year-old girl was later taken into custody at the Flushing-Main St. station and is being questioned, police sources said. The two teens attend the same high school, the sources said.
When asked if he knew the person of interest in his sister’s stabbing, Sara’s brother said he didn’t recognize her name.
“I have no idea. As of right now we have no idea who the girl was. My sister has never mentioned the girl at all,” he said. “We’re still trying to figure things out, and trying to get more information, because we just want to know why? How did it happen?”
“My parents, they were just heartbroken and the rest of my family is the same as well,” he added. “They didn’t hold up too well. But you know we have to be strong together as a family.”
Outside the Riveras’ home, Sara’s friends gathered to mourn and console each other and the victim’s family.
“She was very friendly. She was very lovable. She was a very hyper person. Always put a smile on peoples’ face,” said Natalia Carrillo, 17. “She always was there for people. Always, always, always.”
“She wanted to have her own hair salon,” said Carrillo, tearing up. “She wanted us to grow and have our own apartment. Our birthdays are like literally two days apart so we were gonna be 18 together. And she was like my sister.”
Like sisters, Carillo said the two teens would argue but always made up.
“We would not talk about it for days and then I would say sorry to her and we would be fine,” said Carillo. “I always had her back and she had my back. We was always together. I don’t know how this happened!”
A 16-year-old friend said she wouldn’t know what to say to the girl who allegedly stabbed Sara.
“I don’t know. I can’t even look at her,” said the teen. “Because it’s like why would you do that? Like I would never.”
Commenters on the 15-year-old suspect’s Instagram page were more blunt.
“You took away a beautiful soul without thinking of the pain you have caused for her family. Hope you get the life sentence,” wrote one user.
“Rot in hell,” posted another. “Justice for sara.”
Rivera’s brother lamented the loss and reflected on his sister’s ambitions and potential.
“She would’ve graduated this year. She wanted to go to college to be a psychologist or something along those lines, a therapist,” he said. “She wasn’t really set on what she wanted to do, whether she wanted to be a therapist or psychologist or even do hair. She was in cosmetology so she did have that option available to her if she wanted to.”
“She was still young and she was just still trying to navigate through the world,” he added.
Earlier this month, a 17-year-old girl was stabbed to death in the courtyard of a Bronx apartment building.
Emery Mizell was fatally knifed in the chest on Boynton Ave. near Watson Ave. in Soundview about 2:15 p.m. May 2. A 15-year-old girl taken into custody at the scene was charged with murder.
And on Tuesday afternoon, 16-year-old Mahki Brown was shot to death after intervening in an argument between two groups of girls in the courtyard of the luxury Dominick Hotel on Spring St. near Varick St. in Soho. The gunman and an accomplice took off on one Citi Bike and are still on the loose.
Six hours before Wednesday’s fatal stabbing in Queens, two 15-year-old boys were stabbed in an unprovoked attack on Seabury Place near a McDonald’s on Boston Road in the Bronx.
One victim was stabbed in the chest, the other slashed in the hand about 3:45 p.m. Wednesday, police said. Medics took them to Jacobi Medical Center in stable condition.
The students attend the Bronx Envision Academy less than two blocks away.
