A New York City man who admitted to intentionally hitting his wife with his vehicle and then getting out and stabbing her multiple times, called the police himself and told them that he might have killed his wife, according to prosecutors.

Thirty-six-year-old Stephen Giraldo, a bus driver for the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), was arrested on Tuesday and charged with attempted murder, reckless endangerment, assault, endangering a child’s life, and criminal possession of a weapon.

The MTA employee, who has worked there for over a decade, kept his head down during his first court appearance in Queens Criminal Court. The prosecutor narrated the crime, telling the judge that Giraldo had their three kids in the car when he knocked down their mother and almost killed her.

Their oldest son, Stephen, 11, was in the front passenger seat, and just before hitting his wife, Giraldo told the kids to keep their seatbelts on.

He drove to his wife’s Flushing, Queens home and called his wife, Sophia Giraldo, 41, and told her to come down and meet them. When the unsuspecting woman approached the vehicle, Giraldo sped the car up and hit her. The force of the hit was brutal and she flew over a fence, according to Audra Beerman, the Assistant District Attorney.

A criminal complaint filed by prosecutors revealed that investigators had received footage from a surveillance camera which showed the entire incident. It displayed the suspect driving his white Ford Explorer at around 5 am on December 27. The footage shows all three of his children inside the vehicle.

After hitting his wife, Giraldo’s car hit a wrought iron fence and his car flipped over. Giraldo crawled out of the car using the passenger window, went to where the victim was and stabbed her beneath her breast. He threw the knife on the side of the house, and police found it later.

According to responding officers, Giraldo called 911 and told them he might have killed his wife. He stayed at the scene until the first responders arrived and was arrested shortly after.

After Giraldo’s arrest, Melinda Katz, the Queens District Attorney, said the brutality of the attack, committed in full view of the children, sparked outrage and heartache for many people.

Paramedics took the victim to New York Presbyterian Hospital for treatment for severe neurological damage, a punctured liver, and broken bones in her leg.

Sophia Giraldo works as a life coach and refers to herself as a domestic abuse survivor. Days before the brutal attack, she spoke on her podcast about her experience being in a toxic and abusive marriage. She said she had grown accustomed to expecting the worst from people but hoped the new year would be different.

Family and friends of the victim are taking care of the kids, aged eleven, nine, and six, who were fortunately not seriously injured.

If convicted of the crimes he is charged with, Giraldo, who will remain in custody where he is on suicide watch, will get up to 25 years in prison. Although his attorney requested for him to be released on bail, the judge refused.

The MTA said that Giraldo would remain suspended without pay at least until his trial is over. His next court appearance is on January 12, 2023.