"She came here for me to be able to live out my American dream"
An Asian American mother was stabbed to death by a homeless woman in Riverside.
64-year-old Ke Chieh Meng, was walking her two dogs in La Sierra when Darlene Stephanie Montoya, 23, came from behind her and stabbed her.
Meng was found on the ground, bleeding from her abdomen. She was taken to a local hospital and was pronounced dead.
Riverside police said the incident was a “random attack” that was not race-related.
“They say time heals everything,” Meng’s son, Yi Bai, said. “I don’t know whether that’s gonna be true or not.”
“This is a tragedy, a real tragedy,” Bai continued. “My mom, she is — everybody says it like a cliche, she was the most loving person — but she really was.”
Montoya was arrested and booked into jail on suspicion of murder, a weapons violation, and being under the influence of an illegal substance. She was being held without bail.
The homeless had already been arrested and released a week prior to the stabbing on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, after allegedly attacking a woman with a skateboard.
Police said Montoya was released due to the emergency bail schedule as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.
“They should have never let her out,” Bai said. “We are definitely going to be seeking some legal help because we do not think that should’ve happened.”
Meng moved to the US from China 11 years ago to provide a better life for her family.
“She came here for me. She came here only for me. She had a perfect life in China,” Bai said. “Why did she come here? She came here for me to get a better education, for me to be able to live out my American dream.”
The incident follows a surge in attacks on Asian Americans across the country, including an Asian woman who was hit in the face in Philadelphia.
In California, Vietnamese family was tied up in their own home by robbers who stole their entire life savings in Oakland, California.
Also in California, an elderly Asian American woman was kicked in the face by a suspect who was on parole for fatally stabbing his mother.
Meanwhile, a Japanese American man was randomly punched in the face whilst walking in Washington D.C.
In San Francisco, a 19-year-old Asian hate crime victim was shot in the eye.
Also in San Francisco, an Asian woman was attacked and dragged by a getaway car.
Additionally, a 13-year-old boy was racially attacked in Flushing.
In LA, a 28-year-old Asian mother died in a fatal shooting in Compton.