A 27-year-old New York City mother was violently attacked and slashed in the neck while on a hiking trip in Arizona for her birthday. The assault occurred last Wednesday on the Havasupai Reservation in the Grand Canyon.
Alexis Rowan, 27, was attacked from behind by Taylor Nardo Paya, 29, a member of the Havasupai tribe, after she approached him for directions to a gift shop. According to her account, she realized the severity of the attack when she felt her neck and thought she was going to die.
The attack was captured on a nearby Ring camera, showing Paya attempting to drag Rowan away after she fell to the ground. Following the assault, Rowan required 10 stitches in her neck and three stitches on her left hand. Her mother, Tricia Rowan, described the incident as a "senseless, unnecessary act of violence" on a Havasupai Falls Facebook group, stating that Paya "slit her throat, punched her repeatedly, pulled her hair, threw her to the ground & tried dragging her."
Rowan fought back and screamed for help, alerting a nearby woman who provided her shelter. "I’m just so grateful for the woman that opened the door that heard her screams," Tricia Rowan told ABC7. "She’s a fighter. She fought to make sure she’s coming home to her babies."
Authorities tracked down and arrested Paya the following day by pinging Rowan's stolen cell phone. As the alleged attack occurred on tribal land, Paya faces a federal charge of assault with a deadly weapon. Court documents reveal that Paya has a prior conviction for robbery in December 2015, where he admitted to assaulting a woman before being sentenced to five years in prison in September 2016. He was also ordered to undergo sex offender treatment and counseling.