A Manhattan criminal court judge opened the door Friday for the release of a woman now being held without bail on Rikers for critically injuring an 85-year-old she allegedly shoved face-first into a sidewalk near Union Square Park.
Over the objection of prosecutors, Judge Shirin Zarabi set bail at $10,000 cash and $30,000 insurance bond for 29-year-old Paris Valentine, who is facing assault charges for the unprovoked attack. According to Valentine’s mother, the 29-year-old is bipolar and was off her medication at the time of the assault,
The decision came three days after a different Manhattan criminal court judge held Valentine without bail as requested by prosecutors at her initial arraignment. She did not appear in court for Friday’s hearing. It was not immediaetley clear what other restrictions the judge imposed.
“It unfortunately it doesn’t surprise me. It’s the nature of things in New York with the current bail law,” the victim’s 68-year-old son-in-law said of the reversal. “If the law says that it’s only to ensure a person’s return then you can’t take into account the serious act and there’s not much you can do about it.”
The suspect’s defense attorney, Rosa Isabel Valiente declined to comment after the hearing. It was not immediately clear if Valentine successfully posted bail or remained locked up at Rikers.
“[If she makes bail] hopefully she doesn’t do this to somebody else because she’s ruined one person’s life and all her family has had to witness a loved one having their life altered forever,” the son-in-law said.
The atack was so severe the victim was put in a medically-induced coma. Her son-in-law said the victim’s condition has not improved.
Valentine’s mother, Loretta, sat in the gallery and declined to comment afterwards.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The victim, who according to family, loved getting out and around in the streets of New York, was near her home when she was shoved from behind near Union Square East and E. 16th St. about 12:30 p.m. Monday, police sources said. Valentine walked away without looking back or ever having said a word, authorities said.
Following the attack, the victim was rushed to Bellevue Hospital with a fractured skull and an “open cranial wound” and underwent emergency surgery, cops said. According to prosecutors, the assault was so brutal it caused the victim’s scalp to peel back.
The octogenarian, who remained unconscious on Friday, may never fully recover even if she survives, the family said.
“Aside from being crushed that my mother is no longer going to be the person that I know, no matter what the outcome is, I’m really very sad about the state that New York City is in, that this would happen to someone,” the victim’s 59-year-old daughter previously said.
“She is an incredible woman who loved the city and this is what the city gave back to her. It’s just so heartbreaking.”
Valentine’s mother previously told the News her daughter has bipolar disorder and stopped taking her medication before the assault.
“She was getting some treatment for being bipolar. She was on medication but she’s not on it anymore,” the suspect’s mother, Loretta Valentine, told the Daily News. “I just don’t know why she did this. She’s a good person with a kind heart. I really just don’t know what happened.”
Valentine is a full-time psychology student at CUNY with no history of violence, nor a criminal record, her attorney said during her arraignment. She said Valentine was carrying a school textbook and walking her dog through Union Square Park when the attack occurred, and that she comes from a stable home; her mother is a full-time employee of the city.
Prior to the assault, Valentine had been arrested at least three times for a string of clashes with residents at a Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, apartment building where she lived until she was evicted for not paying rent last December, police sources said.
The three arrests were ultimately dismissed and sealed, the sources said.
