Break-In, Knife Attack That Disfigured Westchester Woman Leads To 18-Year Sentence

MOUNT VERNON, NY — A Westchester man who permanently changed his victim's life in a vicious domestic violence attack will spend the next several years of his life behind bars.

Westchester County District Attorney Susan Cacace announced that 33-year-old Ajany Waite, of Mount Vernon, was sentenced to prison for breaking into his ex-girlfriend's home and slashing her in the face with a kitchen knife during the 2025 attack.

SEE ALSO: Westchester Man Guilty Of Slashing Ex-Girlfriend's Face With A Kitchen Knife, Burglarizing Her Apartment

Waite was sentenced in Westchester County Court to 18 years in prison, with five years of post-release supervision.

On June 17, a jury found Waite guilty of two felony counts of first-degree assault, two felony counts of first-degree burglary, three felony counts of second-degree assault, and misdemeanor fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

"This case is yet another terrifying example of the horrors that domestic violence survivors live through," Cacace said. "Our office remains committed, not only to supporting domestic violence victims in any way possible, but also in doing everything within our power to prevent these incidents from happening. I applaud the tremendous courage shown by the victim in facing her assailant in this case and by her son for bravely fending off the vicious attack."

On June 6, 2025, around 5 a.m., after seeing his ex-girlfriend at a party in the Bronx, Waite went to her Mount Vernon home and began banging on the front door. After making his way into the building and kicking open her apartment door, he then began a vicious attack on her.

The victim escaped and ran into her roommate's bedroom and shut the door, trying to keep it closed. However, Waite managed to force the door open just enough to slash her on the right side of her face with a large kitchen knife and then stabbed her in the left shoulder when she turned away from the door.

The victim's son, who was present in the home at the time, retrieved a hammer and used it to stop the assault. Waite then fled the apartment.

The victim received around 25 stitches to her face, resulting in permanent scarring and lasting vision-related injuries, and six stitches to her shoulder. She also sustained a broken right cheekbone and a torn ligament in her neck.

"The day you broke into my home, and cut me, punched, strangled and stabbed me, everything changed," the victim said in a statement read aloud in court by ADA Alexandra Kontos, "You have made my life very unhappy and sad. I have lost a lot because of you. I am sad. Thinking about what you did to me is torture."

The Mount Vernon Police Department, which handled the investigation, arrested Waite in Manhattan on June 7, 2025.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant DA Alexandra Kontos and Domestic Violence Bureau Chief Joyce.