A man who hid under a bed was sentenced to prison for stabbing a male friend of a Cheltenham woman he briefly dated and was harassing.

Gerardo Lopez Mejia, 29, of the 200 block of East Somerville Street, Philadelphia, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court for 25 to 50 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to charges of attempted murder and burglary on March 18, 2017.

“As kids we hear stories of the monster under the bed and this man embodied that evil and brought that to life for the victims,” said Assistant District Attorney Roderick Fancher, who argued for the lengthy prison term. “This is a person who was able to get inside a home and lie in wait…He laid in wait under the bed…and when he saw another man at that apartment his jealousy turned this into attempted murder.” According to the Times Herald

The woman dated Mejia briefly after meeting at a club, but ended the relationship when Mejia allegedly told her he wanted to be her “owner.” Mejia contacted the woman repeatedly and stalked her through text messaging, authorities alleged.

The night of the stabbing Mejia called the woman 30 times while having breakfast wit her friend. She feared Mejia may be at her apartment in the 7600 block of Williams Way, so she asked her friend to see her home.

The friend took the woman home and found Mejia under her bed. Mejia attacked the friend and stabbed him nine times. The victim eventually kicked Mejia off of him and Mejia ran from the apartment. The woman followed an emergency dispatcher’s instructions and applied pressure to her friend’s back wound until an ambulance arrived.

Mejia fled was captured and taken into custody by police at the SEPTA bus stop at Cheltenham and Ogontz avenues. The victim recovered from his injuries.

Source: Times Herald