Sun.
Mon.
Change my location 
|
|
)
U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings tried to help stabbing victim Carlos Santay-Carrillo,who died the day his wife gave birth to their first child.
Baltimore County (Map, News) - The father-to-be stabbed to death in Catonsville over Mother's Day weekend just before his wife gave birth got an embrace and comforting words in his last moments from U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings.
Cummings arrived at Carroll Fuel gas station in the 5200 block of Baltimore National Pike Saturday moments after Carlos Santay-Carrillo, 19, was stabbed. On Tuesday, the congressman recalled the horror:
“I held his head up, just so it wouldn't be on the pavement. It didn't seem real.”
The attack came as Santay-Carrillo rushed to buy gas at 6 p.m., Baltimore County police said, so he could get his pregnant wife to the hospital to give birth to the couple's first child.
In front of several customers pumping gas, the robber grabbed Santay-Carrillo around the chest and demanded money, police said. Santay-Carrillo pulled away, police said, but the suspect stabbed him multiple times.
“As I was driving up to get my gas, there were three or four well-dressed African-American ladies on cell phones and they were crying,” Cummings said. “I looked to my right and I saw a man with blood spewing out. I thought he had been shot.
“It couldn't have been more than 20 seconds before I got there. He was lying there by himself. He stood up, and the blood kept coming. He fell on his face. He turned over a little bit. I just started talking to him. I said, 'It's going to be all right. It's going to be OK.'”
Now, Santay-Carrillo's wife, Claudia Sales, 23, mourns her husband's death even as she welcomes new life, her son, Carlos David.
Sales' friends had a news conference Monday to ask for help finding Santay-Carrillo's killer. Witnesses described the suspect as a black male in his mid-20s, between 5-foot-6 and 5-foot-9, weighing 140 to 160 pounds, with short black hair. He was wearing blue jeans and black athletic shoes.
Police say they're investigating possible connections to other robberies near the station where Santay-Carrillo was stabbed.
“The thing that got me, he kept trying to get up,” Cummings said. “He was trying very hard. He must have rose up at least four or five times. He fought. He didn't have much strength, but he fought.
“His heart had been punctured. For him to live for 30 minutes, that means he had a real drive to stay alive.”
Maybe he held on as long as he did, Cummings suggested, because he yearned so much to see his wife give birth and to hold his new baby.
lbroadwater@baltimoreexaminer.com
 Not ranked |
 EMAIL ME THIS STORY |
Comments from Examiner Readers
1:11 AM MST on Sat., May. 17, 2008 re: "Congressman aided dying father-to-be in Catonsville"
Report as inappropriate
9:26 AM MST on Thu., May. 15, 2008
re: "Congressman aided dying father-to-be in Catonsville"
Report as inappropriate
11:28 AM MST on Wed., May. 14, 2008
re: "Congressman aided dying father-to-be in Catonsville"
Report as inappropriate
10:40 AM MST on Wed., May. 14, 2008
re: "Congressman aided dying father-to-be in Catonsville"
Report as inappropriate
6:50 AM MST on Wed., May. 14, 2008
re: "Congressman aided dying father-to-be in Catonsville"
Report as inappropriate
6:11 AM MST on Wed., May. 14, 2008
re: "Congressman aided dying father-to-be in Catonsville"
Report as inappropriate
6:04 AM MST on Wed., May. 14, 2008
re: "Congressman aided dying father-to-be in Catonsville"
Report as inappropriate
Examiner Reader said:
elijah cummings makes sense. listen to him speak of the failed drug war, the malaise, the third world countries in east and west baltimore. is he politically astute? yes. but he's the real deal. wish we had more like him instead of gray-suited grafters.
1 agree | 1 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader22 said:
What is this? an NRA convention? Or someone with too much time in their hands. Don't make news about a tragic event a circus for your political views, whatever they may be. Go donate to the family's fund...
1 agree | 3 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
I am surprise that Congressman Cummings would even consider patronizing that gas station or any business in that particular area because of his status in life. It is known as an unsafe area and thus it is not patronized by people with whom I associate. If one values one's safety, one does not go into certain areas.
1 agree | 3 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
Congressman, this was a tragic event for all involved. My heart goes out to the victim's family. Rep. Cumminngs, instead of having a liberal leaning toward those who commit crime, why not assist those of us who realize law enforcement cannot not be everywhere when they are needed. Help law-abiding citizens, who need and want to protect ourselves from this type of crime and reduce the rules and red tape that make it PRACTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE for most upstanding individuals to receive concealed firearm permits for self-defense in Maryland. Unless of course, you are a lawyer, public defender, prosecutor, judge or most elected members of local, state and federal gpverment. Who will speak on our behalf? You?
3 agree | 3 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
It's a wonder this didn't hit home with respect to LAW-ABIDING citizens carrying a firearm to protect themselves. Maryland has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation, yet we are ranked 5th in violent crime. The laws are targeting the wrong people. The sad part is that criminals know that law-abiding citizens are not allowed to carry protections, yet our politicians do nothing. Mr. Cummings should consider the brazenness of this attack. If he had only been there a few minutes earlier, it would be his family mourning over him.
12 agree | 2 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
Cummings keeps fighting against the right of law abiding citizens to have concealed firearms permits for self-defense, keeps fighting execution of repeat offenders, keeps fighting stiff prison sentences, keeps tying the hands of police with "criminal rights" rules, etc. He is now reaping what he sowed in our community. As a black "leader", he tows the liberal party line instead of proposing real solutions, like giving away seized drugs to junkies, swift execution of repeat violent offenders, etc.
4 agree | 1 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
Cummings has now witnessed the result of his criminal friendly Liberal race based politics. I'm sure the perpetrator is one of his supporters. Cummings literally has blood on his hands, how appropriate.
8 agree | 3 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree