Woman stabbed by repeat offender at NJ airport blames judicial system for attack: 'They have failed me'
A North Carolina woman stabbed by a homeless repeat offender at a New Jersey airport over the weekend spoke out about the harrowing attack, recalling the moments leading up to and following the assault.
"I was just waiting on my friend to come out of the restroom, scrolling on my phone," Melissa Mauldin told "Fox & Friends First," Thursday. "He came from behind. I never heard him because [of] how noisy the airport is, but he came from behind with a knife around my face, stabbed me there, and as soon as I felt the pressure, I thought he had just hit me. So, I turned around to see what was going on, and I see a man wielding a knife, just staring at me."
"So I immediately just took off running through the airport screaming for help," she continued.
GEORGIA MAN ACCUSED OF ATTACKING PREGNANT WOMAN IS REPEAT OFFENDER IN ATLANTA AREA: POLICE
54-year-old Jin Xiong was arrested immediately at Newark Liberty International Airport and charged with aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a weapon, according to ABC7 New York. He could also face an upgraded charge of attempted murder, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Mauldin was in New Jersey for a friend's wedding and heading home at the time of the incident.
The suspect allegedly attacked her only days after being released from jail for aggravated assault.
Mauldin blames the judicial system for the attack, arguing that the judges involved in his multiple criminal cases have "failed" her and the community by compromising public safety.
"They have failed me. They have failed others just by constantly giving this man just simple assault charges, putting them in jail for a little bit and letting him be released," Mauldin said. "Somebody who's already stabbed multiple people to me, I think should be being charged with attempted murder, not simple assault, and he shouldn't be allowed to walk the streets free with the rest of us harming others."
"That's my main goal, is to get this story out, so potentially he doesn't have a chance to harm anybody else like he's harmed me," she continued.
Xiong has been in and out of jail since 2009. He reportedly stabbed two people back in 2007, and stabbed a New Jersey corrections officer in the neck in 2009 with a sharpened pencil.
"I still just can't wrap my head around it," she said.