The mother of a man charged with attempting to murder someone with an ax in a Jersey City mall on Thursday collapsed, struck her head and was knocked out cold when he made his first appearance on the charges today.
JERSEY CITY -- The mother of a man charged with attacking three people inside a mall earlier this month collapsed, hit her head and was knocked out cold during her son's first appearance on the charges last week.
Nelson Lizardi-Moreno, 24, of Newark, is charged with aggravated assault for using an ax on two men and a woman at the Newport Centre mall on Nov. 19, as well as stalking and attempted homicide in connection to the same incident, according to criminal complaints.
When he appeared in Central Judicial Processing court on Nov. 23 via video link from the Hudson County jail in Kearny, his mother appeared to faint as the charges were being read. A sheriff's officer who rushed to the woman's aid said she was unresponsive.
A sheriff's officer who is also an EMT responded, and the courtroom benches were moved to give the woman and those treating her more room. Her husband held her hand, and an ambulance was called.
By the time the ambulance had arrived, the woman was moving, but she remained flat on her back. She was lifted into a wheelchair and rolled out of the Hudson County Administration Building courtroom.
She was to be taken to Christ Hospital, but some minutes later she reappeared in court and seemed to have recovered.
Meanwhile, Lizardi-Moreno's bail was set at $450,000 cash or bond, $150,000 for each of the alleged victims, court officials said, adding that bail was to be reviewed by a Superior Court judge. He was arrested Friday, Nov. 20, after being found hiding in a closet in Newark.
Police said Lizardi-Moreno went to the Downtown Jersey City mall at around 9 p.m. that night intending to attack his ex-girlfriend, but he was stopped from entering the store where she works by her boss, a 30-year-old Elizabeth woman.
Lizardi-Moreno attacked the Elizabeth woman, leaving her with a serious head injury, and a 24-year-old Carteret man who wrestled the ax away from Lizardi-Moreno, cops said.
He is charged with striking the man and woman with the ax, and also approaching another man threateningly while holding the weapon, which constitutes a count of aggravated assault, the complaint states.
Finally, he is charged with stalking another woman -- his ex-girlfriend -- by sending her unwanted text messages and going to her workplace four times.
