A New Jersey mother who was stabbed by a random teenager “high on mushrooms” in her home described the terrifying attack and revealed her last words to him.
Donna Ongsiako was about to go to bed on her Colts Neck farm in 2013 when she saw a stranger standing on her porch with a knife.
The man forced his way in and stabbed her repeatedly before stealing her car and leaving her for dead.
“He said, ‘You’re dead, bitch,’ and plunged the knife into my chest.” Ongsiako told CBS.
Police identified her attacker as Brennan Doyle, who was 16 at the time. At his trial, Doyle claimed to have taken psychedelic mushrooms that turned him “into a monster” before attacking her. In 2015 he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Donna Ongsiako was attacked in July 2013 while she was home alone.
Police identified her attacker as 16-year-old Brennan Doyle, who lived nearby.
The attack occurred on July 7, 2013, around midnight, when Ongsiako was home alone while her adult daughter was at a party.
She was going to bed when she went to open the door to let her cat in and found a stranger standing on her porch.
The young man was cutting the window screen.
‘I tried to slam the door and close the door. He stuck the knife through the opening and I cut my finger so I immediately let go of the door. And then he broke in,” she said.
Without saying anything, he stabbed her repeatedly.
She collapsed to the floor and he started talking, asking for her car keys and a lighter.
She told him the items were on the kitchen table and he took them and her purse.
He turned to leave, but then came back to her and she said, “He said, ‘You’re dead, bitch,’ and he plunged the knife into my chest.”
Donna Ongsiako was about to go to sleep at her Colts Neck farm when she went to let her cat in.
The man forced his way in and stabbed her repeatedly before stealing her car and leaving her for dead.
She was rushed to the hospital where she underwent surgery for seven hours.
Donna’s daughter (pictured) was out at the time and returned home to find police outside.
He left and Ongsiako managed to crawl upstairs to reach her phone and call the police.
She was rushed to the hospital and operated on for seven hours.
She managed to describe her attacker and told police he looked about 17 years old, had long curly blonde hair and a backpack.
Shortly after the attack, Monmouth County Detective Andrea Tozzi received a call from workers at a nearby Taco Bell.
They said a young man had walked down the road with a knife banging on the windows. A customer helped police create a sketch and they found Ongsiako’s stolen car abandoned behind a movie theater.
Then came a tip that led officers to 16-year-old Doyle, who lived nearby.
He fit the description and the informant said he had recently cut his long hair.
Police went to his home to confront him in late July.
Tozzi said: ‘I wanted to see if (Brennan) cut his hair. He was wearing a baseball cap. You could tell he had short hair.
In the fall, workers at the shopping center where Ongsiako’s car was abandoned found a knife on the roof of the bowling alley.
Police found a similar knife in Doyle’s home and arrested him.
Police created a sketch of Doyle and later received a tip about his identity.
At trial, Doyle claimed that he had consumed magic mushrooms on the night of the attack and had lost touch with reality.
Doyle was sentenced to 15 years in state prison.
Doyle told the court at the time: “The drugs turned me into a monster that night, I’m so sorry.”
He was charged with six counts, including attempted murder and carjacking. He pleaded not guilty and later changed his plea to guilty to carjacking and attempted murder. Prosecutors dropped the remaining charges.
At the trial he stated that he had consumed magic mushrooms on the night of the attack and that he had lost contact with reality.
At the time he told the court: “The drugs turned me into a monster that night, I’m so sorry.”
Doyle was sentenced to 15 years in state prison.
Ongsiako has addressed the attack to raise awareness and support other victims of random attacks.
She said: ‘Keep going. I did what I had to do to be here today, you know, and leave another day.
