A 94-year-old Asian woman was stabbed repeatedly in San Francisco, on June 16, 2021 morning, in an unprovoked attack.

Stabbed multiple times

The victim, identified as Anh Taylor, suffered multiple stab wounds and was taken to the hospital, NBC News reported.

Here are photos of Anh Taylor the family shared with me. Her niece says she’s an amazing and lovely person, and has been living in SF since the early 70s. She’s in stable condition. She was stabbed straight through her wrist, in the torso, and hit in the head @KPIXtv 11 pm pic.twitter.com/KSppHBTcQv

— Betty Yu (@bett_yu) June 17, 2021

Taylor's family said the elderly woman was stabbed straight through her wrist and hit in the head.

She also suffered minor stab wounds in her torso.

Suspect arrested within 2 hours

Her attacker, Daniel Cauich, 35, was arrested two hours after the incident.

He faces multiple charges, including attempted homicide, elder abuse, committing a felony while on bail or release and probation violation.

Cauich was only released from jail earlier in June 2021.

Investigators said they were still trying to determine if the incident that happened at 10:15am in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood was a hate crime.

Passers-by did not stop to help

Taylor’s niece said her aunt told her that after the attack there were passers-by who did not stop to help.

But one person called 911 that led to the police to the scene.

Authorities said she is expected to survive.

'Why me?'

The elderly woman, recovering in the hospital, reportedly asked her niece keeping vigil with her: “Why would something like this happen to me?”

Her niece said Taylor is Chinese Vietnamese and a widow of a US war veteran, who passed away about two years ago.

The elderly woman is completely harmless and goes for walks by herself with her cane, another person who knows her said.

“I visit with her once, twice a week, we hang out. It’s just sad that someone would be such a monster and so cruel,” said a friend and neighbor of the elderly woman.

Taylor used to be a chef and had her own restaurant in Laos, where she met her husband.

They married in Bangkok and lived there for a few years, before moving to Hawaii and eventually San Francisco in the early 70s.

Taylor has lived in her San Francisco apartment for the last 40-plus years.

On June 17, Taylor’s family set up an online fundraiser to help with her medical expenses.

It has raised US$20,000 so far.

Suspect involved in murder before

Police said they used a photo to identify Cauich as the suspect and took him into custody shortly after the stabbing.

A knife was recovered near where the incident took place, San Francisco police said.

Cauich has had five arrests in 2020 on burglary charges and one arrest in 2016 on a homicide charge.

Released from jail a month ago

He was only released from jail by a judge earlier in June after he was arrested on May 18, according to court records, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Prosecutors had requested that Cauich remain in custody while awaiting trial on burglary charges, but a judge denied the motion, and he was released on June 7, court records showed.

Cauich has a long criminal history that includes murder and burglary charges.

The suspect and his younger brother were arrested in September of 2020 in connection with a series of bike thefts in the city’s North Beach area.

Police, district attorney & court can't agree on what to do

However, this incident has highlighted the level of dysfunction between the police, district attorney and court.

The police officers association questioned in a tweet why the suspect cannot be prosecuted since he has been arrested five times in 2020 and was on an ankle monitor when he allegedly stabbed the elderly woman.

The district attorney then responded that the police officers association was spreading misinformation as the office had filed a motion to detain Cauich in jail.

But it was the court that disagreed to have the suspect remain in custody and released him on an ankle monitor.

The district attorney also said it had successfully prosecuted Cauich on multiple felony burglary charges in March 2021 and he was sentenced to jail and probation, along with other conditions.

The stabbing is the latest in a wave of attacks against Asian Americans across the United States.

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