Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - NYC Mom Survives Horrific Arizona Mountain Attack During Birthday Hiking Trip | Crime Alert 08.26.26

Episode Date: August 26, 2026

A New York City mother survives a violent slash-and-stab attack on an Arizona hiking trail when her desperate screams alert a nearby resident to open her door. A Milwaukee teenager faces up to 65 years in prison after allegedly shooting a mother of two dead following a road rage argument she blamed on a bad day. A former television news anchor in Kansas pleads guilty to the Halloween murder of her elderly mother after suffering severe mental health delusions. Sydney Silvagni reports. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I'm Sidney-Silvani. What was supposed to be a celebratory birthday hiking trail, turned into a horrifying fight for survival for a New York City mother of two. Alexis Rowan, 27, was hiking on the remote Havasupai Indian Reservation in northern Arizona on Wednesday, August 19th, just one day after her 27th birthday. After falling behind her hiking companion, Rowan approached a local villager to ask for directions to a gift shop. She had no idea. The stranger was 29-year-old Taylor Nardo Paya, a tribal member with a violent past. Before she could react, Paya ambushed her from behind, launching an

unprovoked attack that left her neck slashed and her hand stabbed. Desperate to return home to her children, Rowan instinctively fought for her life. And I was like, oh my God, my neck, like, I can't die like this. Like, this is not the way. And I was like, I have my kids to go home to. Rowan fought back as Paya dragged her by the hair across the ground. Bleeding from a deep neck wound, Rowan screamed with everything she had left. Her cries alerted a woman inside a nearby residence who opened her front door. That sudden interruption startled Paya, forcing him to release Rowan and flee. Graphic photos show the reality of the attack, a deep slash on her neck requiring 10 stitches alongside three stitches on her hand. Recalling the moment she realized she was in danger,

Alexis described her initial encounter. Didn't think anything of it. It was the first person that I've seen in the village and I said, hey, excuse me, like, is that the gift shop? I kept walking, went to go in, and that's when he just came up from behind. And as soon as I fell my neck, I'm like, oh my God, like I'm going to die. The intervention of the homeowner who opened her door, saved Rowan's life. Doorbell camera footage captured the struggle, and while the audio was missing, authorities confirmed Rowan's screams were key to driving the attacker away. Alexis's mother, Trisha Rowan, expressed gratitude for the bystander, calling her an angel sent from heaven.

I'm just so grateful for the woman that opened the door that heard her screams. It's something you can never unhear. Trisha Rowan praised her daughter's determination to survive and make it home to her children. She's a fighter. She fought. She made sure she's coming home to her babies. and she's my baby, so I'm so glad she made it. Alexis noted her gut instinct warned her of danger, adding another victim might not have been prepared to survive.

Tribal police located Paya the following day by pinging Rowan's stolen phone. Federal agents took Paya into custody, transporting him on a golf cart before perp walking him to a helicopter. Paya faces federal charges of assault with a deadly weapon. Records reveal Paya pleaded guilty in 26. to robbing and assaulting another woman, serving five years in prison. Rowan's distraught mother now wants the dangerous perpetrator locked up indefinitely. More crime and justice news after this. Get Bell, Pure Fiber Internet with Crave Netflix and Disney Plus from $94 a month.

Price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. A Milwaukee road rage dispute over a minor traffic incident ended in a fatal shooting, with an 18-year-old claiming a bad day led her to commit murder. Mariah Ruiz was charged Monday in Milwaukee County Circuit Court with first-degree reckless homicide by use of a dangerous weapon in the August 17th shooting death of 44-year-old Minerva Hernandez-Lopez. Investigators say Ruiz cut off the victim while driving to a grocery store with a teenage or two-year-old. friend. A verbal altercation erupted after Hernandez-Lopez allegedly gestured at Ruiz and told her, little girl, you need to drive. Ruiz admitted threatening to call U.S. Immigration and Customs

Enforcement before pulling out a gun. Surveillance video recorded Hernandez-Lopez's tan GMC backing into Ruiz's front bumper before Ruiz fired five rounds into the car. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed Hernandez-Lopez died from a gunshot, wound to the neck. Despite her friend pleading with her not to shoot, Ruiz pulled the trigger, later surrendering to police and penning an apology letter, claiming a fight with her mother, ruined her day. Ruiz faces 65 years in prison and remains held on a $100,000 cash bond ahead of her Friday preliminary hearing. A former television news anchor in Kansas pleaded guilty to murder after fatally stabbing her elderly mother during a mental health crisis. Forty-year-old

Angeline Angie Muck admitted Friday to first-degree murder for the Halloween 2025 slaying of her 80-year-old mother, Anita Avers. Wichita police officers responding to a 7.50 a.m. call at the home Muck shared with her mother and stepfather found Mock outside with cuts on her hands and Avers suffering for multiple stab wounds, later dying at the hospital. Court documents state Mock told police officers she killed her mother to save herself, claiming she believed. her mother was the devil. Family members noted Mock had been diagnosed with mental illness suffering from delusions and depression. Mock previously worked as a news anchor and reporter for Fox 2 in St. Louis and K-O-K-H in Oklahoma City. Mock held other reporting stints in Minnesota, Montana, and

Nebraska. Under her plea deal, Mock faces life in prison with parole eligibility after 25 years, with sentencing scheduled for October 5th. For more crime and injustice news, be sure to join us for crime stories with Nancy Grace on Fox 1, YouTube, Sirius XM, and now streaming on 2B. With this crime alert, I'm Sidney Silvani. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human.