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Eileen Medina, 17, pleaded guilty to having forcibly stolen car keys from a woman by threatening the woman’s four-year-old daughter with a knife on Dec. 11, 2017, said the DA's Office.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, the District Attorney’s office will recommend she be sentenced to nine years in state prison and five years post-release supervision when sentenced on May 3, the DA's Office said.
Medina admitted that on while she was at her foster mother’s home in the Town of Monroe, she stole car keys belonging to her foster mother by physically holding onto the foster mother’s four-year-old daughter while threatening the use of a knife.
She also admitted that in the manner she used it, the knife was capable of causing death or serious physical injury to the child. Medina further admitted that she held the girl with the knife in this fashion while accompanying the foster mother upstairs to her bedroom to retrieve the car keys, and then back down the stairs, all the time telling the mother not to get close or she would hurt the four-year-old girl.
District Attorney Hoovler thanked the New York State Police for their investigation and the arrest of Medina.
“Children are of course the most innocent of victims,” said Hoovler. “Any defendant who would threaten a four-year-old girl with a knife in front of her mother is a danger to the community, regardless of that defendant’s age. I commend the New York State Police for their investigation in this matter and the fast apprehension of the defendant. The safety of children must be our paramount concern, and my office will recommend appropriately severe state prison sentences when children are victimized.”
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Maryellen Albanese.
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