Police identify man they say stabbed woman to death
Pedro Grajalez was charged with murdering his girlfriend in Hartford on April 16
By Zoe Strothers, Jay Kenney and Olivia Schueller
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HARTFORD, Connecticut (WFSB) — Hartford police said they are investigating a domestic-related homicide in which the suspect stabbed his girlfriend then drove himself to the police department.
The male suspect was identified as 52-year-old Pedro Grajalez of Hartford. He was charged with murder and given a bond of $1.5 million.
The victim was identified as 57-year-old Nilda Rivera of New Britain.
Police said Grajalez stabbed Rivera to death in a car and then drove the vehicle to the police department on Sunday afternoon.
The woman was brought to Saint Francis Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Police said they determined that the incident happened in the area of 206 Murphy Rd. However, the crime scene, a vehicle, was outside the police department.
“We believe it happened in the car somewhere in the City of Hartford,” said Lt. Aaron Boisvert, Hartford police. “He self-reported this to the police himself and drove the crime scene to the police department.”
Grajalez remained in police custody as of Monday morning.
Yvette Thompson Brantley said she has lived in Hartford for quite some time and witnessed similar violence firsthand.
“They were shooting where I used to stay. They shot my car up,” Yvette said. “Now it’s not just young kids, it’s older people too.”
Following Sunday’s stabbing, she said she hoped police keep the city safe during spring and summer.
“I wish my condolences to her family. I don’t [know] what to say about him, but he had to be out of his mind,” Yvette said.
After 39 homicides took place in Hartford in 2022, Boisvert said, overall, violent crime has been significantly down from a year ago.
“There will be a summer action plan, there always is,” he said. “Last year, we believe a lot of those people were violent offenders. We’d like to hope that’s the reason for homicides and shootings being lower this year but we’ll see.”
Police said the stabbing marked Hartford’s sixth homicide of 2023.
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