Queens Woman Gets 3 Years For Slashing Boyfriend With Sword

EAST ELMHURST, QUEENS — Prosecutors sentenced a Queens woman to three years in prison for slashing her boyfriend with a samurai sword.

The Queens District Attorney's office sentenced the 40-year-old East Elmhurst resident to three years in prison sentence for the near-fatal slashing of her boyfriend in June 2016, prosecutors announced Tuesday.

A jury found the woman, Karla Barba, guilty of assault and endangering the welfare of a child following a three-week-long trial, prosecutors said.

"This was a brutal attack. The scene had blood puddles on the floor and crimson red streaks on the walls," Chief Assistant District Attorney John M. Ryan said. This could have ended more tragically, but the victim survived and the defendant has been ordered to prison for a significant period of time."

On June 8, 2016, Barba was arguing with her live-in boyfriend, Franklin Larrea, in the bedroom of Larrea's son, according to trial testimony. After Larrea pulled Barba from the boy's room, Barba grabbed a samurai sword that was within reach and struck Larrea in the head. The sword's sheath came off as Barba slashed Larrea twice more, according to trial testimony.

Larrea survived following an emergency blood transfusion at a nearby hospital, prosecutors said.