SAN ANTONIO – A second person has been arrested after a routine child custody exchange turned violent last month, ending in a stabbing outside a local YMCA.
The stabbing occurred around 6:40 p.m. on February 19 near Iowa Street and St. Anthony Avenue, outside a local YMCA.
When officers arrived, they found a man with multiple stab wounds to his torso and arms. He was taken to the hospital for treatment.
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According to arrest affidavits, a man in his 20s had gone to the YMCA to pick up his children when an argument broke out. The situation escalated when 26-year-old Abel Ali Rivas pulled out a knife and attacked him.
A second person, 31-year-old Melanie Sierra Gomez, is also accused of helping hold the victim back during the attack and keeping him from getting away.
At one point, witnesses reported hearing the victim ask, “Are you going to stab me over this?”
After the stabbing, Rivas is accused of taking off in the victim’s vehicle. Both Rivas and Gomez are now facing aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charges.