Providence Bus Stop Stabbing: 2-Year-Old and Mother Hurt

A 2-year-old girl and her mother were stabbed at a school bus stop in Providence, Rhode Island, on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 7, 2026. Police say a man the family did not know approached them near Broad and Public streets, where the mother was waiting with her daughter in a stroller for her older children to come home from school. The toddler was taken to Hasbro Children's Hospital in critical condition, and a 46-year-old man, Nelson Blanco, has been charged.

Within a day, the case became about more than one afternoon. Court records reported by NBC 10 and the Boston Globe show that Blanco was charged in 2003 with stabbing two young boys in Providence, but that case never went to trial because he was repeatedly found incompetent to stand trial. In July 2026, a judge again found him incompetent in a separate case and allowed him to stay in the community on outpatient treatment. Three months later, a family's routine wait for the school bus ended in an emergency.

What Happened at the Providence Bus Stop?

The bus stop sits near a Family Dollar store at the corner of Broad and Public streets in South Providence. Reported times vary slightly between outlets, but all place the attack in the early afternoon. According to the Boston Globe, the 26-year-old mother was waiting for her two other children to get off the school bus. NBC 10 News identified her as Amaalia Javier.

Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez told reporters that the man approached the mother and made insulting remarks. She crossed the street with the stroller to get away from him. Police say he approached a second time and attacked the little girl with a knife. The mother was also wounded; she was treated at a hospital and released, and is now with her daughter.

Police described the attack as unprovoked and said there is no evidence the man knew the mother or child. Providence police Major David Lapatin told the Globe that the motive appeared to be "just to hurt someone." No other motive has been confirmed.

How Bystanders Kept the Toddler Alive

People at the bus stop did not look away. Boston 25 News reported that one bystander tried to intervene and that police say the attacker tried to stab that person before running off. Others chased him down the street.

Jesse Alice Palmer, 34, was waiting nearby for her own children. She told reporters she is a certified nursing assistant. Palmer and another woman applied pressure to the girl's wounds, and when the child stopped breathing, they and others gave her CPR until an ambulance arrived. Chief Perez publicly thanked the community members who stepped in and said the outcome "could have been worse."

Arrest and Charges

Police say the man ran to a house on Daboll Street, entered the basement of a home where he did not live, and locked himself inside. Officers forced their way in and arrested him without further incident. Police said a knife was found inside a panel box in the basement. According to Boston 25 News and Fox News, police say he admitted to the stabbings during questioning.

Police identified him as Nelson Blanco, 46, of no known address. Boston 25 News reported the charges as two counts of assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, breaking and entering the dwelling of a person over the age of 60, possession of a knife while committing a crime of violence, and possession of a knife with a blade longer than three inches.

Blanco was arraigned on Thursday, October 8, in Providence District Court. He did not enter a plea. The court referred him to the public defender and ordered a competency evaluation and a dangerousness assessment. Reports on his custody differ: Boston 25 News reported he was held on $200,000 bail as a bail violator tied to a pending case, while Fox News, citing WPRI, reported he was being held without bail. Blanco has been charged, not convicted, and he is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty in court.

Who Is Nelson Blanco? The 2003 Case

The detail that drew statewide attention came from court records. According to the Boston Globe, Blanco was 23 in 2003 when he was accused of stabbing two 7-year-old boys in Providence. NBC 10 reported the attack happened on Corinth Street and was described at the time as random and unprovoked. Both boys survived. Now grown men, they have since spoken to WPRI about the lasting effects, according to Fox News.

That case was never tried. Court docket entries cited by Fox News show Blanco was repeatedly found incompetent to stand trial from 2004 through 2006. The Globe reported that by 2007 the state's behavioral health agency found there was "no reasonable likelihood" he would ever become competent, and the criminal case ended there. He spent years as an inpatient at Eleanor Slater Hospital, the state psychiatric hospital.

Why Was He Free? The Competency Gap

Being found incompetent does not mean a person is innocent. It means a court has decided the defendant cannot understand the proceedings or help with their own defense, and under the U.S. Constitution such a person cannot be put on trial. Courts usually try to restore competency with treatment first.

The NBC 10 I-Team reported that Rhode Island law requires charges to be dismissed once the time a person has been committed for competency restoration reaches two-thirds of the maximum sentence for the most serious charge. In Blanco's 2003 case, that limit would have been about four years. His public defender at the time, retired attorney David Levy, told the I-Team: "You can't be held there for the rest of your life or indefinitely if you are not restored to competency."

The state can also seek a separate civil commitment for someone who poses a likelihood of serious harm because of a psychiatric disability. According to the I-Team's review, it does not appear that happened for Blanco. The Rhode Island Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals declined to tell the Globe when or why he was discharged from Eleanor Slater, citing patient privacy laws.

The records show later cases. The Globe reported that he was found incompetent in 2018 after a 2017 stolen-vehicle charge, and that in 2024 he was charged in North Providence after breaking into his sister's house. In July 2026, in that pending case, a court order again found him incompetent. Dr. Paul Baker found he was not a danger to the community or himself and recommended outpatient services, and Judge Brian Stern accepted the recommendation. The order said Blanco was "not likely to imperil the peace and safety of the community or himself at this time." The Attorney General's office told the Globe he has been found incompetent in at least three unrelated cases.

Levy told NBC 10 that judges have the final say but "tend to certainly put a high premium for competency purposes on the doctor," and that a defendant's history is generally considered. Chief Perez said, "I don't think the system is broken," adding that police gather facts and the courts hold defendants accountable. Palmer, who helped save the toddler, saw it differently: "The system failed everybody," she told the Globe. "He should not have been out in the streets."

Most people living with serious mental illness are never violent. The questions raised here are about the legal process: who reviews a defendant's full history before outpatient release, and what happens when someone cannot be tried. No formal review of the decisions in this case has been publicly announced.

What Happens Next?

Blanco's next court date was reported by Boston 25 News as Thursday, October 22, 2026. If he is again found incompetent, the court will face the same question it faced in 2003 and in July: what to do with a defendant who cannot be tried. As of the latest reports, the 2-year-old remained hospitalized. Her name has not been released.

Timeline of the Providence Bus Stop Stabbing Case

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was stabbed at the Providence bus stop?

A 2-year-old girl and her 26-year-old mother. The girl's name has not been released. The mother was treated and released from the hospital.

Who is charged in the Providence toddler stabbing?

Nelson Blanco, 46, of no known address. He faces charges including two counts of assault with intent to commit murder. He is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Did the accused know the victims?

Police say there is no evidence he knew the mother or child and described the attack as unprovoked.

Why was Nelson Blanco not in custody before the attack?

He had been found incompetent to stand trial in several cases. In July 2026, a judge accepted a doctor's recommendation that he could remain on outpatient treatment.

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Sources

• Boston Globe: Girl and mother stabbed at Providence school bus stop
• NBC 10 News (WJAR): I-Team looks at why the accused was free before the stabbing
• NBC 10 News (WJAR): Court records detail the accused's history
• NBC 10 News (WJAR): Bystanders rushed to help toddler and mother
• NBC Boston: Update on the Providence stabbing
• Boston 25 News: Charges and bail for the accused
• Fox News: Court docket history of the accused