A Westchester Father-Daughter Duo’s Heroic Intervention: A Story of Courage and Compassion

In a remarkable display of bravery and quick thinking, Armando Gramajo and his daughter Shayla became unlikely heroes on a spring day in White Plains, New York. On May 4, 2024, Armando was working on his car outside his home when he heard desperate cries for help in Spanish. Looking up, he witnessed a horrifying scene: a man, later identified as Carlos Obed-Tovar, was chasing his wife down Harding Avenue with a knife, already having inflicted numerous wounds in a jealous rage. Without hesitation, Armando called upon his military training from his days serving in the Guatemalan army, shouting “Para! Para!” (Stop! Stop!). Remarkably, Obed-Tovar – who had been stabbing his wife repeatedly in the back, neck, and skull with such ferocity that the knife handle had broken off – froze at the command. This split-second intervention created the crucial window needed to save a life.

The father’s immediate action was only the beginning of this extraordinary rescue. As the wounded woman lay bleeding profusely on the street, Armando called for his daughter Shayla to assist. The 25-year-old, who was training to become a physician’s assistant at the time, rushed from their garage with towels and applied pressure to the victim’s numerous wounds, implementing crucial first aid that would help keep the woman alive until emergency services arrived. “It could have gone the other way and I’m just glad it didn’t,” Shayla later reflected to The Post. “Thankfully, it didn’t escalate any further.” Meanwhile, when Obed-Tovar attempted to flee the scene, Armando again issued his authoritative command – “Para! Para!” – and astonishingly, the assailant stopped once more and remained at the scene until authorities arrived. This peculiar response, authorities later learned, stemmed from Obed-Tovar’s past as a narcotics officer in Colombia, where he had been conditioned to respond to such commands.

The victim, identified only as Carolina, had suffered an unimaginable ordeal. By the time the attack ended, she had endured a total of 35 stab wounds – some inflicted before she had even managed to flee her apartment in search of help. The injuries were severe, including damage to her vocal cords that would impact her ability to speak. Emergency surgery saved her life, but her survival truly hinged on the Gramajos’ intervention. Without their swift action – a stranger’s command that stopped the attack and the immediate application of makeshift tourniquets – the outcome would almost certainly have been fatal. What makes their intervention all the more remarkable is that they knew nothing about the situation or the people involved; they simply saw another human being in desperate need and took potentially life-threatening risks to help.

On Wednesday, August 2024, Armando and Shayla Gramajo were honored at a special ceremony at Westchester County Courthouse, where District Attorney Susan Cacace presented them with the inaugural Civilian Hero award. “She survived that day because two strangers, knowing nothing of the dispute at hand, did something no one asked them to do,” Cacace stated during the ceremony. “They did something that placed them in the way of a knife-wielding assailant. They intervened. They saved her life.” The recognition highlighted not just the exceptional nature of their actions, but also the profound impact that ordinary citizens can have when they choose courage over caution, compassion over indifference. Armando, who speaks limited English, expressed his gratitude with humility: “I say, God thank you we were there when it happened. Thank you very much for making this ceremony for us.”

Perhaps the most moving moment of the ceremony came when Carolina herself, still unable to speak normally due to her injuries, mouthed “thank you” to the father and daughter who had saved her life. Through a statement read by an assistant district attorney, she expressed her profound gratitude: “They embody hope, solidarity and the true essence of compassion.” Her presence at the ceremony represented a powerful testament to both human resilience and the life-changing difference that strangers can make. Meanwhile, justice had taken its course with her attacker. Obed-Tovar pled guilty to second-degree attempted murder and was sentenced to 12 years in prison in August, bringing at least some measure of legal closure to the horrific incident.

The Gramajos’ story serves as a powerful reminder of humanity’s capacity for selflessness and heroism in moments of crisis. Their actions transcended cultural and language barriers – Armando, a Guatemalan-born bus driver, used his military background to stop a Colombian ex-police officer from killing his wife, while his American-raised daughter applied her medical training to keep a stranger alive. Their story speaks to the universal language of compassion and the extraordinary impact of everyday heroes. In a world where bystander apathy is all too common, the Gramajos chose involvement over indifference, risking their own safety to save another. Their recognition as “civilian heroes” celebrates not just their specific actions on that May day, but also the larger principle they embody – that when ordinary people summon the courage to act in extraordinary circumstances, lives can be saved and communities strengthened through the power of human connection and care.