Rhode Island Man Accused of Stabbing Toddler at Bus Stop

A stranger allegedly stabbed a toddler in the face while she sat in her stroller at a Rhode Island school bus stop. This happened years after authorities accused him of knifing two other children and found him incompetent to stand trial. The child's fight for survival has brought renewed scrutiny into the suspect's past. It now includes an attack on two children more than two decades ago. There were also repeated findings that he was unfit for court.

Nelson Blanco, 46, is accused of stabbing the 2-year-old girl and her mother Wednesday afternoon near Broad and Public streets in Providence, police said. The toddler was taken to Hasbro Children's Hospital in critical condition. Her mother suffered a stab wound to the shoulder. She was treated and released, according to local reporting.

The mother waited with her daughter for her other children to get off a school bus. Blanco allegedly approached them and made insulting comments, Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez said, according to WPRI. She crossed the street with the stroller to get away. Blanco approached again and allegedly attacked the child with a knife, police said. There was no evidence he knew either victim.

Surveillance video showed the mother and daughter attempting to move away before Blanco grabbed the stroller. He struck the child repeatedly, Boston 25 News reported. A bystander tried to intervene. Blanco allegedly attempted to stab that person before fleeing, according to the outlet. Officers found Blanco hiding in the basement of a nearby home. They recovered a knife from a panel box, police said. Authorities said he admitted to the stabbings during questioning.

Blanco allegedly told detectives he stopped the attack because he was on a main street, according to a police report obtained by WPRI. "If I was on a side street, I would have killed them. Both of them," he said, according to the outlet. PROSECUTORS SAY CHARLOTTE TRAIN STABBING CASE WON'T BE DISMISSED REGARDLESS OF COMPETENCY RULING

Blanco faces six charges. These include two counts police identified as assault with intent to commit murder. Other charges are felony assault, breaking and entering into an occupied dwelling of a person 60 or older, and two weapons charges. No plea was entered during his Thursday appearance in Rhode Island's 6th Division District Court. The court referred him to the public defender and requested an evaluation, according to court records reviewed by Fox News Digital.

WPRI reported Blanco is being held without bail pending a competency hearing later this month. His arrest brought back painful memories for Andy Lopez and Dave Belony. They told WPRI they were 6 and 7 years old when Blanco attacked them. The attack happened while they played in Lopez's backyard on Sept. 27, 2003.

Belony said he recognized Blanco immediately when he saw his booking photo on social media Wednesday night. "I knew it was him, because I will always remember that face," he told the station. "My heart dropped, and it truly felt like my world had stopped." Court records reviewed by Fox News Digital show Blanco faced two felony assault charges and a charge of possessing a knife or firearm during a crime. This stemmed from the 2003 incident.

The docket documents repeated findings that Blanco was incompetent to stand trial from September 2004 through March 2006. Multiple entries state, "Defendant Remains Incompetent." The case remains listed as "under review" in the court portal. More recently, Blanco was found incompetent to stand trial in July in a separate domestic violence case, WPRI reported.

A judge agreed with a doctor's assessment, allowing Blanco to stay in outpatient care because officials believed he posed little risk to himself or others at that moment. The decision comes after decades of silence regarding his actions.

Lopez and Belony told WPRI how the violence from years ago still haunts them today. They were playing with Lopez's brother when Blanco walked out of a shed behind their home, where he had been living alone.

"He didn't say a word," Belony recalled later. "His face was blank and he was just staring at us."

Blanco charged forward, pinning the boy against a tree. He curled into a ball to protect his head while Blanco stabbed him repeatedly. The attacker then turned his attention to Lopez.

"My brother yelled at me to run, and I was trying to run but my body just froze," Lopez explained to the station. "He stabbed me twice in the eye, the first time it was blurry, and then the second time I couldn't see anything."

Both children were rushed immediately to Hasbro Children's Hospital. Their road back took three months and involved at least three surgeries for each boy. The outcome remains harsh. Lopez is permanently blind in his left eye. He said this injury ended his dreams of becoming a police officer or driving a truck.

"Most of the opportunities I wanted to have in life are gone," he said. "I'm very grateful I'm alive, but my life is restricted."

Belony suffered at least five stabbings across his stomach, back, and ribs. He continues to struggle with the emotional weight of what happened. The men admitted that learning about the new attack against a mother and toddler devastated them. They felt compelled to speak out now.

"It's frustrating for us, not only because of what happened to us, but because it has happened to others," Lopez told WPRI. "He was given a chance 23 years ago, and 23 years later, he did the same thing."

"We want justice for the victims," Belony said. "What is it going to take for him to be held accountable for his actions?"

Fox News Digital contacted both the Providence Police Department and the Rhode Island attorney general's office seeking comment on the case.