Fresh Meadows resident Jawad Hussain, 60, pleaded guilty Tuesday to manslaughter and assault in the fatal stabbing of his wife and for wounding his daughter during his 2019 attack inside their family home, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Hussain, of 69th Ave., faces up to 19 years in prison after he admitted to fatally stabbing his wife and the assault of his daughter before Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder.
The attack occurred during the afternoon of Jan. 15, 2019, when Hussain, wielding two knives, allegedly attacked his wife Fatima Jawad. According to the charges, the 44-year-old victim was stabbed 46 times and sustained wounds to her torso and extremities, suffering puncture wounds to her lung, liver, large and small intestines.
When the couple’s daughter, 18-year-old Manhor, stepped between the two, she was slashed in her hands and wrists and her right leg. Despite her injuries, the young woman was able to call 911 for help. The teenager told the 911 dispatcher that her father had stabbed her mother. At the time, Hussain grabbed the phone and told the operator that he had trouble with his wife, and he just hurt her.
When police arrived at the 69th Avenue apartment, the defendant was standing outside the residence holding two knives. He was taken into custody without incident.
Both women were taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens hospital, where Fatima Jawad died from her extensive injuries later that same day, according to the charges. The couple’s daughter required numerous stitches to her wounds and underwent surgeries to lacerated tendons in the hand, enabling her to regain partial use of her fingers following months of physical therapy and the loss of full sensation in her hand.
“In pleading guilty, the defendant has now admitted to the stabbing rampage that killed his wife,” Katz said. “This brutal outburst also injured his daughter. A woman is dead and her family grieving and now the patriarch of the family faces a lengthy term of incarceration for his crime when the court sentences him in the coming weeks.”
The defendant will be sentenced on March 29. Justice Holder indicated he will sentence Hussain to 19 years in prison, to be followed by five years’ post-release supervision.
