{"id":327895,"date":"2026-08-23T18:04:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T18:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/327895\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T18:04:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T18:04:11","slug":"living-nightmare-new-york-womans-throat-cut-in-attack-during-trip-near-the-grand-canyon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/327895\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Living nightmare\u2019: New York woman\u2019s throat cut in attack during trip near the Grand Canyon"},"content":{"rendered":"

SUPAI, AZ (AZFamily<\/a>\/Gray News) – A New York woman is back home after being attacked with a knife while hiking near the Grand Canyon.<\/p>\n

Alexis Rowan traveled to Havasupai Falls, just outside the Grand Canyon, for a birthday trip, according to her mother, Tricia Rowan. Alexis Rowan\u2019s family says she was ambushed on a trail and cut on the throat by a man she had asked for help.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime; she was all excited. It turned into a living nightmare,\u201d Tricia Rowan said.<\/p>\n

Tricia Rowan said Alexis Rowan and a friend planned the trip for their birthdays, leaving New York in search of peace and beauty.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou leave the concrete jungle to go to nature and see nature\u2019s beauty, and something so horrendous and so horrific happens and you\u2019re like, wow, you never would\u2019ve thought,\u201d Tricia said.<\/p>\n

\u2018She knew she was in trouble\u2019<\/p>\n

On Aug. 12, Alexis Rowan and her friend hiked down to the Havasupai village at the bottom of the canyon. They got separated on the trail.<\/p>\n

Tricia Rowan said Alexis Rowan spotted a man and asked him for directions to the gift shop.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first and only person she saw, she asked, \u2018Is this the right way to the gift shop?\u2019 And right after she asked, she said she knew he had not a good look in his eye; she knew she was in trouble,\u201d Tricia Rowan said.<\/p>\n

Court documents name the man as 29-year-old Taylor Nardo Paya, a member of the Havasupai Tribe.<\/p>\n

He started walking behind her. Tricia Rowan said Alexis Rowan never saw what came next.<\/p>\n

\u201cNext thing you know he just came up behind her with a knife and he just slit her throat, like he literally just cut her,\u201d Tricia Rowan said.<\/p>\n

Tricia Rowan said the attack continued after that.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s punching her repeatedly; he grabbed her by her head, threw her to the ground and attempted dragging her,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Alexis Rowan fought back and screamed, according to her mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people are like, \u2018Oh, I screamed for my life,\u2019 but then when you hear this, that\u2019s what screaming to save your life and fighting for your life is,\u201d Tricia said.<\/p>\n

Neighbor\u2019s camera captured attack<\/p>\n

The attack was captured on a neighbor\u2019s Ring camera. Tricia Rowan said the neighbor heard the attack and stepped in to help.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad she not been home or had the bravery to step out on her porch, this would\u2019ve been a totally different conversation,\u201d Tricia Rowan said.<\/p>\n

Federal authorities arrested Paya. He is facing a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon. Tricia Rowan said she still worries this could happen to other tourists.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, they got him off, but is he the only one?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Tricia Rowan said Alexis Rowan is home, alive, but changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s going to have a scar that she\u2019s going to have to look at in the mirror every day to remind her, but she\u2019s strong. Probably stronger than I am at the moment,\u201d Tricia Rowan said.<\/p>\n

Suspect\u2019s past, tribe\u2019s response<\/p>\n

According to court records, Paya served five years in prison for a December 2015 robbery that involved a female victim. He was also ordered to undergo sex offender treatment.<\/p>\n

The Havasupai Tribe issued a statement saying they are devastated by the assault and that it does not reflect the tribe\u2019s values or the hospitality they extend to visitors.<\/p>\n

The Havasupai Tribe is devastated by the assault of a visitor in Supai on Wednesday, August 12, 2026. We want to be absolutely clear: violence against our visitors, our Tribal members, or anyone within our community is unacceptable and will not be condoned. The conduct alleged in this incident does not reflect the values of the Havasupai Tribe or the respect and hospitality that our community extends to the thousands of visitors who come to our homeland each year.<\/p>\n

We are especially grateful to the Tribal members who came to the victim\u2019s aid and to law enforcement in bringing the suspect into custody.<\/p>\n

Paya\u2019s attorney responds<\/p>\n

Paya\u2019s attorney said the injuries reported are \u201cserious, and no one should minimize the impact that an incident of this nature can have on everyone involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said past criminal convictions are not proof of any new offense.<\/p>\n

First, I want to reiterate that I sincerely hope the alleged victim makes a full recovery. The injuries described in the media are serious, and no one should minimize the impact that an incident of this nature can have on everyone involved.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Mr. Paya is entitled to the same constitutional protections afforded to every person accused of a crime in this country. He is presumed innocent, and the government bears the burden of proving every element of any charge against him beyond a reasonable doubt.<\/p>\n

Much of what has appeared publicly thus far consists of allegations, statements from individuals connected to the alleged victim, and selected portions of the government\u2019s preliminary account of the incident. Those allegations have not yet been tested through the adversarial process, and the defense has not had a full opportunity to examine and challenge the government\u2019s evidence.<\/p>\n

I am particularly concerned by attempts to use Mr. Paya\u2019s past to suggest that he must therefore be guilty of the present allegations. A prior conviction is not proof that a person committed a new offense. Mr. Paya must be judged on the admissible evidence concerning this case\u2014not on his past, media characterizations, or public emotion.<\/p>\n

There is unquestionably more to this case than can be conveyed through a brief video clip, a headline, or a social-media post. The appropriate place to determine what occurred is a courtroom, where evidence can be examined, witnesses can be questioned, and both sides can be heard.<\/p>\n

As Mr. Paya\u2019s attorney, I intend to thoroughly investigate the allegations, carefully review the government\u2019s evidence, and vigorously protect his constitutional rights.<\/p>\n

Until that process occurs, I ask the public and the media to remember a fundamental principle of our justice system: an accusation is not a conviction, and every accused person is presumed innocent unless and until the government proves otherwise beyond a reasonable doubt.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 AZ Family via Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SUPAI, AZ (AZFamily\/Gray News) – A New York woman is back home after being attacked with a knife…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[123325,123326,123324,123327,9,24,55,54,56],"class_list":["post-327895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-grand-canyon","tag-havasupai-attack","tag-havasupai-falls","tag-havasupai-knife-attack","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}