Recovery at Home
Alexis Rowan, a 27-year-old mother of two from New York City, is back home after a knife attack during a hiking trip near the Grand Canyon. Her birthday trip to Havasupai Falls, just outside the canyon, turned into what her mother, Tricia Rowan, called a "living nightmare." According to her mother, the trip was planned with a friend for their birthdays, leaving New York for peace and beauty. "You leave the concrete jungle to go to nature and see nature’s beauty, and something so horrendous and so horrific happens and you’re like, wow, you never would’ve thought," Tricia said.
The Attack
On Aug. 12, Alexis Rowan and her friend hiked down to the Havasupai village at the bottom of the canyon and got separated. According to Tricia Rowan, her daughter spotted a man and asked for directions to the gift shop. "The first and only person she saw, she asked, ‘Is this the right way to the gift shop?’ And right after she asked, she said she knew he had not a good look in his eye; she knew she was in trouble," Tricia Rowan said.
Court documents name the man as 29-year-old Taylor Nardo Paya, a member of the Havasupai Tribe. The family says he started walking behind her, then slit her throat with a knife from behind. The attack continued as he punched her repeatedly, grabbed her head, threw her to the ground, and attempted to drag her, according to her mother. Rowan fought back and screamed.
Alexis Rowan told the New York Post that the attack happened so fast that she only realized "everything was bloody." She recalled, "All I remember is the neck slice." She did not feel her hand get stabbed, saying, "I was like where am I bleeding from because my hand was covered in blood." She thought she "was going to die alone" just one day before her 27th birthday. “Once I felt my neck got sliced, I was like, that’s it," she said, adding, "All I know is like this is not the way I’m going out, like this is not the way I’m ending my life."
A nearby neighbor heard Rowan’s cries for help and raced to provide aid. The attack was captured on the neighbor’s Ring camera. Rowan described the neighbor as an "angel sent from heaven," saying, "If it wasn’t for her God only knows," and added, "I had blood all over her house." She credited the neighbor with saving her life: "Her opening the door made this man [run] away, scared him away."
Rowan required 10 stitches in her neck and three stitches on her left hand, as reported by the New York Post.
Legal Proceedings
Federal authorities arrested Paya, and he is expected to be charged federally for assault with a dangerous weapon. According to court documents, Paya’s past includes a 2015 conviction for robbery and assault of a woman, which led to a five-year sentence and an order to undergo sex offender treatment. The New York Post reported that Paya pleaded guilty in September 2016 to these charges.
The Havasupai Tribe issued a statement saying they were devastated and that the incident does not reflect their values. Paya's attorney acknowledged that the injuries are serious but noted that past criminal convictions are not proof of any new offense.
Mother ’s Response
Tricia Rowan expressed strong feelings about her daughter’s experience, vowing that she "will not stop until justice is served" and calling people like Payer "a threat to society." Alexis Rowan told the New York Post that she "never wants to look at another mountain again" after what happened. She returned to New York a day after the attack.