UPDATE: Woman Fights for Life After NYC Ax Attack Kills Friend, Spares Child



A young woman is dead, another is seriously injured and a toddler is in the hospital for observation after a violent domestic attack with an ax in Brooklyn early Saturday.

The injured woman's ex-boyfriend was caught late Saturday night and now faces murder charges - one he gets out of the hospital where he himself is being treated for hand injuries.

The incident started around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, when the NYPD responded to a call for an injured person outside the Bushwick Houses in Brooklyn. On arrival they discovered a 21-year-old woman, Angela Valle, had already been taken to Elmhurst Hospital with cuts to her head and body.

When they entered her apartment in the same building, they found a friend of hers nearly decapitated and with multiple fingers severed, law enforcement sources said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police later identified her as Savannah Rivera, 20, of Brooklyn.

Authorities soon found a 4-year-old girl in the apartment - the child of Valle, the 21-year-old woman found outside. The child was unharmed but taken to Woodhull Hospital for observation. Valle was in critical condition as of Saturday afternoon.

Investigators believe the episode started when Jerry Brown, 34, the father of the little girl, entered the apartment and began arguing with the child’s mother, his ex-girlfriend.

Brown had an ax and as the argument escalated hit his ex's friend, Rivera. He kept attacking the woman with the ax, striking her multiple times.

He then went after Valle, the sources said. She stumbled out of the apartment and into the street where she passed out. An Uber driver found her and called 911.

Police recovered the ax from the building’s compactor room. It’s believed Brown may have thrown the ax down the trash chute.

He now faces charges of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder, as well as two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.