A 2-year-old girl remains in critical condition after she and her mother were stabbed on a Providence street by a man with a decades-long history of violence against children, police confirmed Friday.
Nelson Blanco, 46, who authorities say appears to be homeless, was arrested Wednesday following the broad-daylight attack near a school in Rhode Island’s capital. The mother has since been released from the hospital, but her daughter is still “fighting for her life,” the Providence Police Department told The Post.
Blanco did not know his victims when he approached the mother as she waited with her daughter in a stroller for her other children to finish school, Police Chief Oscar Perez told reporters. He allegedly hurled insults at the woman, and when she tried to cross the street to escape, he grabbed her and attacked both her and the toddler.
Bystanders intervened, causing Blanco to flee the scene. He then broke into an elderly woman’s home and hid in her basement before being apprehended, Perez said.
The attack has drawn scrutiny to Blanco’s repeated encounters with the criminal justice system and his continued presence on the streets. His criminal record spans nearly 30 years and includes charges of assault and battery, breaking and entering, and possession of a stolen vehicle, according to court records.
Blanco was previously charged in 2003 with stabbing two 7-year-old boys as they played in a parking lot. He was eventually deemed incompetent to stand trial in that case, the Providence Journal reported.
He faced a similar outcome in 2018 when charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, again being found incompetent to stand trial. Court documents viewed by The Boston Globe show the Rhode Island Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals determined he “has an Intellectual Disability Disorder and Schizophrenia.”
In 2024, Blanco was arrested for domestic violence and released in 2025 into the custody of state health and human services, Perez confirmed to reporters.
Blanco now faces two counts of assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and breaking and entering, among other charges, following Wednesday’s alleged attack.
When questioned about why Blanco was free despite his history, Perez pushed back against suggestions of systemic failure.
“I don’t think the system is broken,” he said.
The chief emphasized that law enforcement’s role is to “present the facts to the judicial system” and allow that system to deliver justice.
The 2003 parking lot stabbing of the two young boys marked an early entry in Blanco’s documented pattern of violence toward children. That case, like others that followed, ended without trial due to competency findings that returned him to the community.
Wednesday’s attack unfolded in a neighborhood where parents routinely gather to collect their children from school, raising questions about public safety protections for families in the area.
Blanco remains in custody as prosecutors pursue the new charges against him.