‘Rot in prison’
Son of rape vic left in coma rails at suspect
The son of an East Harlem woman left in a coma by a rapist who choked her on the street is cheering the arrest of a suspect in the shocking case.
“I hope he rots in prison,” Kristian Delgado, 37, the victim’s son, said of suspect Frankie Harris. “I’m going to make sure.”
Harris, 38, of Bushwick, Brooklyn, faces attempted murder, rape, strangulation and sex abuse charges for the sickening attack on 64-yearold Adalinda Delgado-Staiman on E. 111th St. near Second Ave. last Monday.
Delgado-Staiman is mentally disabled, her son said.
“She was loved by everyone,” Delgado said. “She had a few issues, psychiatric issues, but everybody who knew her loved her.”
Delgado’s mother was on her way home when Harris rode by on a Citi Bike, parked it between two cars and approached her, according to police.
“She came from eating something because she was hungry,” a tearful Delgado said. “She went to go get some food and she was attacked right in front of her building.”
Harris struck up a conversation before allegedly grabbing the victim, putting her in a chokehold and raping her, cops said.
The assailant left Delgado-Staiman lying in a pool of blood, shocked neighbors told the Daily News.
Surveillance video shows Harris washing his hands with soap from a Palmolive bottle he had with him before getting back on the bike and riding off, cops said.
By the time medics showed up, the victim’s heart had stopped and the lack of oxygen damaged her brain, leaving her in a coma, according to Delgado.
The distraught son, who has long paid many of his mother’s bills and sent her spending money, is flying to the city this week from his home in Romania to visit her in the hospital. Authorities say she is in critical condition.
“To anybody who does have their mother with them, they can be overbearing but you’ll never appreciate them till you lose them,” Delgado said. “Take care of your mother.”
Cops released surveillance video of the suspect Thursday and asked the public’s help identifying him and tracking him down.
After cops nabbed Harris on Saturday, he told cops, “Yeah, I did it. It was consensual,” according to police sources.
Detectives believe Harris is mentally ill and a K2 smoker, a habit they think brought him to East Harlem, sources said.
He was awaiting arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on Sunday.