Melissa Mauldin, North Carolina woman attacked by repeat violent criminal, Xiong Jin recently released from jail at Newark Airport as she relives horror of attack.
A North Carolina woman has re-lived the terror of a random attack Sunday night at Newark Liberty International Airport which left her with a deep gash on her face after randomly being slashed with a knife across the face. But perhaps more terrifying is the suspect’s criminal career history and how he had been out on parole after serving 3 years for a previous violent crime.
‘He had the knife still raised in the air,’ a shaken Melissa Mauldin, 36, told Eyewitness News.
The ‘harrowing’ incident happened as the Charlotte, North Carolina based woman waited to go home at Terminal A.
Attack comes 8 days after repeat offender finished serving a 3 year sentence for another violent attack
Port Authority police witnessed the offender attack Mauldin with a knife on the right side of her face at the Terminal A departures level.
The suspect, Xiong Jin, 54, described as a homeless repeat offender was quickly detained by a patrolling officer who probably averted Mauldin suffering an even more egregious and possibly fatal attack.
Upon his arrest, the suspect was charged with aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a weapon.
The Union County Prosecutor’s Office said Jin is expected to face an upgraded charge of attempted murder.
Of disconcert the attack comes just eight days after the suspect finished serving a nearly three-year prison sentence, the nypost reported.
Mauldin was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
A history of violent repeat offences
Mauldin recalled how the attacker came up behind her, reached around, and knifed her in the face. One second she was inside the terminal watching a little boy play, and the next she felt a tremendous blow to her face.
When she turned around, she saw a man standing in front of her with a bloody knife.
‘I felt the force from his fist, and the blade was so short,’ Mauldin told the outlet.
The blade did serious damage to Mauldin’s face, requiring 14 stitches to close the gaping cut. Her cheekbone and nose were also fractured.
‘I’ve never not felt secure. And I was telling my fiance Max last night, I feel like all that security is stripped from me and I didn’t even do anything to deserve it,’ Mauldin said.
It remained unclear how Mauldin came to be specifically targeted and whether she may have been attacked because of her gender.
‘He wasn’t there for a flight, he had no bags, he had nothing. He was just there with the intent to hurt somebody,’ Mauldin said.
Police said Jin has been in and out of prison since 2009 for assault.
Jin allegedly stabbed a New Jersey corrections officer in the neck with a sharpened pencil in 2009, and allegedly stabbed two residents after they invited him into their homes in 2007, the Star Ledger reported in a pair of articles at the time.
He also was once accused of trying to stab the owner of a Chinese restaurant, law enforcement sources said.
A state corrections report indicates Jin served at least three stints behind bars between 2009 and 2024. He was most recently released on Aug. 17 following an aggravated assault rap.
He is currently in Essex County jail.
