Police have yet to announce charges against a man considered “a person of interest” in the murders of a Bronx man, his partner and their child on Sunday – but his case has already confounded family members, and, according to the man’s lawyer, even the psychiatric doctors evaluating him.
Jayden Rivera, 19, was in police custody at a hospital in Westchester County on Wednesday, waiting to be charged with killing his own father, 38-year-old Jonathan Rivera; his father’s partner, 33-year-old Hanoi Peralta; and the couple’s 5-year-old son, Kayden Rivera.
All three were discovered around 6:40 a.m. in the apartment they shared in Mott Haven on Sunday. All three had sustained multiple stab wounds, according to NYPD officials, and were pronounced dead at the scene. Their deaths were all ruled homicides.
“I’ve never had a client like this before, in terms of what a wonderful person, what a smart individual, what a gifted individual this is,” said Nicholas Ramcharitar — of the Ramcharitar Law Firm, which is representing Rivera. “This was the type of kid that you would want to have as a parent.”
Ramcharitar said Rivera was excelling in his college courses at SUNY Oswego, until an issue with his financial aid application forced him to transfer to a CUNY school for this semester.
SUNY Oswego said Rivera was enrolled as a student in the fall of 2022 and “did not return” for the spring 2023 semester, or for the start of the current school year.
The teen had no documented history of mental illness, and Ramcharitar said even the psychiatric doctors at Westchester Medical Center are struggling to understand the reason for his alleged violent acts.
“As of right now we just see this a psychotic break,” he said, adding that Rivera would soon be moved to a forensic bed at Bellevue Hospital, which has more appropriate resources to deal with the “severity” of his mental state.
Rivera’s family members were also searching for answers about what could have…
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