The woman accused of stabbing a stranger on the front porch of his Queens home in a random attack is also accused of damaging her mother’s car in a bizarre fit of rage, according to Queens prosecutors.
Melissa Duran, 39, defied a court order of protection when she drove to her mother’s home and smashed the front driver-side and rear driver-side windows of her mother’s white BMW around 5:19 a.m. on Sept. 23, prosecutors said.
The next day, she attacked the 54-year-old man sitting on his porch outside his home on 53rd Ave. by 213th St., stabbing him in the head after screaming “What are you looking at?” before fleeing in a red Honda Civic around 11:47 a.m., according to prosecutors.
“In an instant, this innocent man’s life was changed, and he is now recovering from a laceration along his temple and ear,” said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. “The defendant also went to her mother’s home – in violation of an order of protection – and repeatedly damaged the woman’s vehicle.”
“We will not allow anyone to bring chaos and disorder to our residential neighborhoods,” Katz said.
The man sustained a puncture wound and was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Queens with a minor injury, according to police.
“I was like, ‘What the hell?’” the victim, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Daily News last week. “I was so confused. I couldn’t believe she would do what she did.”
A few hours after the attack, at about 9:10 p.m., Duran returned to her mother’s home and started bashing her mom’s car again, this time leaving a kitchen knife stuck in her rear bumper, prosecutors said.
Duran was arrested Friday for the stabbing and charged with attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon. She’s also charged with criminal mischief and criminal contempt for vandalizing her mother’s car.
A judge set Duran’s bail at $500,000 cash and $1 million bond after she pleaded not guilty in Queens Criminal Court. She has six prior arrests in New York, including for an assault in June 2025, officials said.
Just before Thursday’s attack, the victim heard a cacophony of car drivers honking at a red car that was double-parked, blocking traffic on 53rd Ave., he said.
“I didn’t think much of it,” the victim said. “I was like, people honk all the time. This is what New Yorkers do.”
The red car then pulled up in front of the victim’s building, and the suspect, who police described as a heavyset woman dressed all in black, stepped out of the vehicle. The victim, who was expecting a delivery, said the woman was carrying something in her hand that he thought might be his package.
After unsuccessfully trying to enter a neighboring building, the woman returned to her car and, after noticing the victim glance at her, shouted, “Look away, boy! Look away, boy!”
“I asked her what your problem was,” the victim said. “That was enough to set her off.”
It was then, as the woman approached him, that the man realized the object in her hand was a knife.
“She unsheathed the knife,” he said. “Then she just walked up to me and took a swing aimed at my head.”
The blow caused a minor skull fracture and a gash that required three stitches to close.
“Luckily, she had terrible aim,” the victim said. “She missed my artery, missed my nerve. Had she stabbed one inch higher or lower, the consequences would be a lot worse.”
The Bayside victim said he “feels safer” following her arrest.
“If she was still at large, who knows, she could come back to finish the job,” he said. “She could decide to harm my other family members. I feel safer that she’s off the street, and hopefully she will be off the street until she can get some psychiatric help.”