Transcript
Emma (0:00)
I speak to you on this terrible, terrible time, one that has deeply affected the hearts and minds of people in Israel and people around the world. Our homes, our communities were looted and set on fire causing immense suffering. Nonsense. The Holocaust has so many Jews been killed in one day. We are at war.
Kyle (0:26)
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Emma (1:20)
I don't know where to start from here, so I guess I'll just start off by saying what happened at the end of 2017? I was a new student at a small school in November of 2017. The size was around 50 kids in total. Yeah, I know. Small right? The reason I went there was because the things I was learning in that old school were just way too advanced for me. I had to transition into a school where the work was way easier and where I could focus better. It's called the Smith School and it's based in New York City. It used to be a school for kids who had a criminal history. Now it's changed into a school with kids who have special needs. I was only there for almost a full year and then I transferred into a bigger school. I was pretty much friends with everyone at that school because the school was so small. I even ended up dating a guy. His name was Kyle Fernandez. I believed that I had started dating him in February or March of 2018. The reason why he went to the Smith School was because he got kicked out from his previous school due to selling weed to other students at that school and one person ended up telling on him the first 23 months of dating him. He was pretty nice to me and to the people that went to our school, but at the same time he was also high on drugs for most of the time. I never smoked weed and I never will. Kyle would also sometimes take me to hang out with his outside school friends. They were also along like him smoking and selling weed and have their pants sag which would reveal their underwear. It was so eye burning to see that crap. But Kyle loved me and I loved him. While Kyle and his friends would do that stuff that would get them in trouble, I would stay out of it. End of my miracle. Kyle never pressured me to join along with them. A few more months went on and her relationship would stay the same. Until one day in July where everything changed. On that day, Kyle came over to my place at nighttime. For an hour we were just chatting in my bedroom until my phone kept going off. It was a bunch of text messages from my friend Liam. I opened imessage and I saw that he sent me a bunch of edgy but funny memes. I started laughing pretty hard and then Kyle asked me, who's texting you? I told him that it was just my friend Liam. He then asked me if he could see the texts. I then responded by saying, please, it's really nothing. He's a longtime friend who makes me laugh all the time. Kyle then got really upset with me and then demanded to look in my phone. My smile then slowly faded away. I now felt a little skittish. I then muttered the word no. Take a guess on what happens next. I think you know what Kyle did after I told him no was that he grabbed my phone and then threw it to the wall. Glass went everywhere to the floor, the lamp, the top of my drawer, and on my bed. I was in disbelief with what just happened. As a reaction to what Kyle just did, I put my arms up to my face because I didn't know what he would do next. I then felt his hand grab my left arm and then he did something that made me really change how I saw him as a person. I saw glass from my phone in his hand and before I could even say anything or move, Kyle plunged the glass right into my arms so fast and then took it out two seconds later. I then screamed. I screamed so loud that probably Africa itself could even hear me. As I was still screaming. Kyle then screamed at me, are you happy now? And then he ran out of my room and out of my apartment. I really wish my mother was home, but of course she wasn't. I then ran right into my bathroom and washed the stab wound with soap and water. It was hurting like hell when I did that. I then got a humongous bandage and put it on my left arm. After doing that, I went back to my phone, took the shattered screen protector off, and then proceeded to block Kyle on everything. If he tries to come and see me again, I will make it clear that I never want to see him again. To my shock, he actually never came to my house again and I Never saw him on the streets again either. But I did look around my surroundings to be safe, and indeed I was. I kept what Kyle did to me a secret. And when everyone asked what happened between me and Kyle, I just said our relationship was just not really going in the right direction. Everyone actually seemed to believe me. I didn't let anybody know what the real reason was because I was just too scared. But me being scared all changed because of something that happened in the summer of 2023. It was early August of 2023. I was at work that day and while working I had felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I took my phone out of my pocket to see who was calling me and it was a 212 number. For the people that don't know, 212 is an area code number that is the home code in New York City. It wasn't my home phone because I knew my home phone number. I was curious to see what company was calling me, so I picked up the phone and said, hello. I heard a woman on the line asking if this was me. I just replied back saying, yes, that's me. Who is this? I then heard the woman say, this is the 42nd Street New York Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia Presbyterian Medical center calling and I'm here to inform you that your mother, along with 10 people have been hit by a car and she's in critical condition. As I heard this, I felt my hand shaking while holding the phone. I tried staying in composure and then said, I'll be there right away. I ran out of my workplace so fast without telling anyone where I was going and what happened. I got to the hospital in about 10, 15 minutes. I asked where my mom was and a woman at the front desk said that she was in a room right down the hall. I ran over to that room and when I got to that room, I saw that she was in a coma. I sat down next to her, crying like I've never cried before in my life. A nurse came in and I asked her for the details of that incident. A nurse then said that a man stole a car while intoxicated and he drove onto a wrong way street and then onto a sidewalk, striking a cyclist at first. And then he hit a woman, which is your mom, and about five others, and they all just flew into each other. I was so taken back hearing this that I asked if they found out the guy's name yet. The nurse then said, we don't know yet, but we'll probably get an answer tomorrow. The next day then came and There was amazing news and life shattering news. I'll start off with the good news first. The good news was that my mom woke up. The bad news is that the person who drove that vehicle that hit my mother and six other people was someone who I knew very well. It was Kyle. I was in such incredulity. I was going to make sure that he was not going to get away with this. Thank God he got tackled by some good Samaritans on the street and the police have him in custody. I wanted to scream so badly, but I would just be humiliating myself by doing that. Another part about the bad news is that a couple of days later I would find out that my mother would never be able to walk again. I felt as if my own life was over when this news story broke out all around the country. Everyone thought this was a terrorist attack. They thought that because of seven bodies all flying into each other. I also felt very self assured that I will tell my experiences of dating Kyle to the court and to the public, but keeping who I am private. I wrote a letter to the court where Kyle was at and I wrote about the same time he assaulted me with the shattered glass of my phone that he threw. After this was read out in court, another woman who dated Kyle in 2022 also came forward about how she was a victim of domestic violence from Kyle. This warmed my heart because she felt inspired to tell her story as well and that we will stick together through this. In the end, Kyle was found guilty of his domestic violence on me as well as the other women he dated and for his drunk driving case too. After he was found guilty, he was sentenced to two and a half years behind bars. In my honest opinion, that sentence is just way too short. It should be 20 years because of the seven victims he unintentionally hit with the car and leaving most of them with lifetime injuries. He must have hired an amazing lawyer because of such a short sentencing. I have nothing but hatred for Kyle now after he changed my mother's life for the worse. People like him never change. I know I might be taking things out of proportion, but I'm never going to get over this and this is how I really feel. While Kyle is serving his time in prison, I hope that he reflects on his actions that he did to hurt these people and he goes to rehab where he changes as a person. My advice to him is that he needs to move out of New York City, which is a very toxic environment, and start a new life where he helps people instead of hurting them for the people living in New York City. When Kyle gets out of prison and you see him on the street, please avoid him at all costs because you don't want to be his next victim.