Roadway of Tears

Why was Young Mother Murdered on New England Thruway?

By David Greene

 

BRONX, NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 2- A young mother fleeing her deranged ex-boyfriend was brutally and savagely stabbed to death as she lay injured and trapped inside an overturned vehicle.

 

Police were called to the Pelham Parkway entrance of the I-95 / New England Thruway interchange at just before 4 a.m. on Wednesday, August 28, for reports of an overturned vehicle.

 

Katherine German, 20, of Van Nest was discovered inside the bloody vehicle, she had been stabbed several times in the neck, torso and face with a kitchen knife and was declared dead at the scene.

 

Cops quickly took ex-boyfriend and livery taxi driver Dionis Espinal, 31, into custody. Espinal and German had a 2-month old daughter together, but court documents show German had an order of protection against Espinal, since a May 26 assault.

 

Espinal, an employee of the Kiss Car Service on Webster Avenue, had apparently spotted German and her new boyfriend as they exited the Paradise Motel on Boston Road.

 

The couple fled in a Honda Pilot SUV, and Espinal gave chase in a Toyota Camry, one of the new outer-borough taxis, at speeds of upwards of 90-miles-per-hour. Espinal rear ended the SUV, which then flipped over a concrete divider and rested on a jogging path between Pelham Bay Park and Co-op City.

 

Investigators say Espinal then calmly walked over to the SUV, climbed into the vehicle through the passenger side window and preceded to stab German to death as she lay injured and trapped in the passenger seat.

 

German's new boyfriend Jose Jimenez, 28, of Yonkers refused medical attention at the scene for minor bruises and abrasions. Espinal was taken to the 45th Precinct for questioning and was subsequently charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon.

 

Espinal entered a plea of not-guilty and was being held without bail. His next court appearance is scheduled for September 3.

 

The victims heartbroken mother Fernanda Rivera, 41,claimed Espinal knew German's day-to-day activities, apparently by accessing her cell-phone. Rivera told reporter's, "He hit her. He sent her to the hospital," and now the young mother is dead.