FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 24, 2025
Brooklyn Man Sentenced to 38 Years in Prison for Attempted Murder of Former Girlfriend, who was Slashed and Stabbed at her Workplace
Defendant Attacked Victim on Multiple Occasions, Causing Severe, Lasting Injuries
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Brooklyn man was sentenced to 38 years in prison for violently attacking his former intimate partner on two occasions, including slashing her face with a box cutter and later stabbing her multiple times, critically injuring her, at her workplace, a restaurant in Downtown Brooklyn.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant carried out a campaign of terror against a woman who once cared for him, leaving her with devastating physical and emotional injuries. His brutal and repeated violence showed a complete disregard for her life and for the law. With today’s sentence, he’s being held accountable and will no longer pose a threat to her or anyone else.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Rakien Figueroa, a.k.a., Rakeem Figueroa, 43, of East New York, Brooklyn. He was sentenced yesterday by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Abena Darkeh to 38 years in prison. He was convicted of second-degree attempted murder, two counts of first-degree assault, second-degree burglary, and second-degree assault on March 24, 2025, following a jury trial.
The District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, on December 2, 2022, at approximately 3:15 p.m., the defendant and the victim, a 39-year-old woman, were arguing on the corner of Jay Street and Fulton Street, in Downtown Brooklyn, after the defendant had taken her cell phone from her workplace. The defendant slashed the victim’s face with a box-cutter, causing a severe eight-inch laceration that required reconstructive repair and resulted in significant nerve and gland damage.
The defendant fled the scene and removed his ankle monitor that he was required to wear under federal supervision. Two days later, on December 4, 2022, according to the evidence, the defendant attacked the victim again inside her New Jersey apartment, where he had been hiding inside her closet. The defendant jumped out of the closet with a hammer when the victim and her sister came home. The defendant pushed the victim to the ground and pressed his boot against her neck, causing her to have difficulty breathing, and threatened her life, according to the evidence.
On January 10, 2023, the victim was at her workplace when, at approximately 7:47 a.m., the defendant smashed the glass front door of CAVA with a rock, pushed his way through the broken glass of the door, and attacked the victim again, stabbing her repeatedly with a knife. The victim sustained multiple life-threatening stab wounds, including injuries to her neck, face, arm, back, and kidney. The victim was monitored in the surgical ICU for approximately three days.
The defendant fled after the attack and was arrested on January 17, 2023, by NYPD detectives and U.S. Marshals after he was discovered hiding in a relative’s closet.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Lauren Fitton and Assistant District Attorney Danielle Ripka, of the District Attorney’s Domestic Violence Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kori Medow, Bureau Chief.
#