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Mom defends Queens 16-year-old arrested for punching woman down church
steps as a ‘good boy’

Courtesy St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church

The mom of the teen terror accused of punching a Queens grandmother down the steps of a church is defending her son, calling the 16-year-old robbery suspect with
a long arrest record an average kid who “does everything he’s supposed to do.”

By Kerry Burke | kburke@nydailynews.com | New York Daily News and Thomas Tracy | ttracy@nydailynews.com | New York Daily News
April 13, 2024 at 2:26 p.m.

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The mother of the teen terror accused of punching a Queens grandmother down the steps of a church
is defending her son, calling the 16-year-old robbery suspect with a long arrest record an average kid

who “does everything he’s supposed to do.”

“My son is a good boy,” the 54-year-old mother told the Daily News Friday night at her Queens home.

She said she was unaware that her son attempted suicide by wrapping his shirt around his neck and
trying to choke himself while in custody at the 107th Precinct station house early Friday.

“I’m not aware of him having any mental problems,” she said. “It’s news to me that he tried to commit
suicide.”

The suicide attempt occurred just before the suspect was due to be arraigned on robbery and assault
charges for the brutal mugging of Irene Tahliambouris, who was punched and knocked down a flight of
stairs outside the St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Briarwood on April 7.

Tahliambouris, 68, suffered a fractured skull and was hurt so badly that she didn’t recognize her own
relatives for days as she recovered at the hospital, her family said.

The teen’s name was not publicly disclosed because of his age and he is being charged as an
adolescent offender.

Courtesy of St Demetrious Greek Orthodox Church, Jamaica

The mom of the teen terror accused of punching a Queens grandmother down the steps of a church is defending her son, calling
the 16-year-old robbery suspect with a long arrest record an average kid who “does everything he’s supposed to do.”

“The viciousness with which the defendant is accused of having committed the robbery at the church
struck the city at its core,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said “He chose to rob an elderly
.

woman by first pushing her down the stairs and then proceeded to take her purse and leave her to
suffer while he took off in her car. He will now have to answer for the serious charges levied against
him by my office.”

An officer intervened in the suicide attempt at the precinct and the teen, who was not seriously
injured, was taken to a hospital for a psychological evaluation, cops said. His arraignment in Queens
Criminal Court was pending Saturday.

Besides the attack on Tahliambouris, the teen is also charged in a robbery just three days before .

In that case, the teen stalked a 50-year-old woman to a bank at the Rochdale Village Shopping Center,
then followed her to her building, where she said he confronted her in the elevator and took her car
keys. He fled in her car.

“Iwas hoping and praying that he’d be caught, and I was hoping and praying no one would get hurt,” the
earlier victim told The News on Friday. “This poor lady probably wouldn’t have been attacked if he
were caught.”

Police said the teen has been arrested nine times as an adolescent offender. Eight of those arrests
involved robberies.

“This was avoidable!” NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said on Friday. “Absolutely shocking that this
heinous crime was committed by a 16 year old ! A teenager who has had multiple felony arrests,
robberies of women and yet he is walking around the streets. Obviously he needs help!”

The teen’s mom said she didn’t know about the long string of arrests but did say that her child goes to
counseling.

“Ilove my son,” she said. “He’s in the 11th grade at Voyagers at August Martin High School. He goes to
school, he goes to his program, he goes to counseling. He does everything he’s supposed to do.”

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