Posted on: January 09, 2025 06:30 PM

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Couple plead guilty to attempted murder of neighbour in sunnyside parking spot attack

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that married couple Arturo Cuevas and Daisy Barrera pleaded guilty yesterday to attempted murder in the second degree for stabbing and battering their neighbor, a 28-year-old man, during a March 2023 confrontation in Sunnyside over a parking space. The couple had previously fought with the victim over a parking spot in the neighborhood.

District Attorney Katz said: “A 28-year-old man was senselessly stabbed with a knife and beaten with a metal baseball bat by the defendants over a parking dispute. Video of the attack, which was captured by a neighbor, shocked the city.  On the eve of trial, defendants Arturo Cuevas and Daisy Barrera pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Wilson Chabla Lliguicota. Our thoughts are with Mr. Lliguicota and his family as he continues to recover from the injuries he sustained.”

Cuevas, 32, and Barrera, 28, of 48th Street in Sunnyside, pleaded guilty to attempted murder in the second degree before Supreme Court Justice Mary L. Bejarano on Tuesday and face 14 years in prison. They were ordered to return to court on January 22 for sentencing.

DA Katz said that according to the indictment and investigation, on March 17, 2023, at approximately 3:40 p.m., defendants Cuevas and Barrera, were present when victim Wilson Chabla Lliguicota arrived at his residence and parked his car. Cuevas and Barrera, who are married, lived around the block from the victim and had a dispute with him over a parking space 11 months earlier.

Both defendants– armed with weapons– approached Lliguicota’s car and attacked the man. Cuevas stabbed the victim in the body multiple times with a folding knife. Barrera used a metal baseball bat to hit the victim in the head multiple times. After the couple knocked Lliguicota to the ground, the attack continued, with Cuevas stomping on the victim’s prone body several times and Barrera hitting the victim in his head with the bat.

The victim’s girlfriend, 22-year-old Delia Chimbay, saw her partner in distress from their apartment window and came outside to intervene. Barrera hit the woman in the arm with the bat and resumed her attack on Lliguicota with Cuevas.

The altercation ended when police arrived at the scene and Cuevas and Barrera retreated into their apartment. They were arrested following a 20-minute stand-off.

Both victims required medical treatment for their injuries. Lliguicota required surgery for severe brain trauma, removal of part of his skull and the inducement of a medical coma to manage his extended care and rehabilitation needs.

From QUEENS DA