Police say a suspect fled in the victim’s vehicle and investigators later filed charges against the child’s mother.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — A child custody exchange outside an east-side San Antonio YMCA erupted into a fight and stabbing that sent the child’s father to the hospital and left investigators searching for a suspect who police say drove away in the victim’s vehicle.
The stabbing, reported the evening of Feb. 19, prompted a fast response from patrol officers and detectives because it happened at a public family facility and in front of witnesses. Since then, police have continued investigating the roles of the adults involved, and court records in recent days have added allegations that the child’s mother helped set up the confrontation that led to the stabbing.
Officers were called to a reported cutting near the corner of Iowa Street and St. Anthony Avenue, outside the Davis-Scott Family YMCA, around 6:30 p.m. to 6:40 p.m., according to police reports. The victim, described by investigators as a father who arrived to pick up his child, argued with the child’s mother as the exchange began. Police said the argument turned physical, with the mother accused in reports of assaulting the father during the confrontation in the parking-lot area near the facility.
Witnesses told police that a second person joined the fight and began stabbing the father, according to the reports. The father suffered stab wounds to the lower part of his body, and responders rushed him to a hospital in critical condition, officials said in early accounts. Police have not publicly provided a new update on his condition, and investigators have not said whether the child was injured. The suspect accused of stabbing the father fled before officers arrived, police said, and witnesses reported seeing the suspect drive away using the victim’s vehicle.
In the days after the stabbing, investigators collected witness statements and reviewed the timeline of who arrived with the mother and what was said during the exchange. Court documents later identified the mother as Melanie Sierra Gomez, 31, and show she was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The filings identify the father as Oscar Javier Barbosa and name a second suspect, Abel Ali Rivas, 26, as the man who confronted Barbosa near the facility. Police have not announced an arrest of Rivas, and officials have continued to describe a suspect who remains at large.
Accounts described in the reports paint a scene that moved quickly and drew attention from people nearby. The YMCA sits in a neighborhood setting where evening hours often bring heavy foot traffic, with families arriving for youth programs and adults coming in for workouts. “We saw it go from yelling to fighting in seconds,” one witness told officers, according to statements summarized in police records. Investigators have not released witness names publicly and have not said how many people saw the stabbing from start to finish.
Police have not publicly detailed several core pieces of evidence that typically shape an early felony case, including whether investigators recovered the suspected weapon, whether surveillance video captured the key moments, and whether the victim’s vehicle has been located. Officials also have not said whether the custody exchange was tied to a court order requiring a specific location or time, or whether there were any protective orders between the adults involved. Those details often emerge later through hearings, motions, and testimony.
The case has also raised questions about safety planning around exchanges that happen in public spaces. Police have not offered public commentary beyond the investigation, but officials have indicated the department treated the incident as a serious violent assault from the first call because it involved a stabbing and a suspect leaving the scene in a vehicle tied to the victim. Detectives have continued interviewing witnesses and working to confirm the sequence of events leading up to the stabbing described in court records.
As of Wednesday, Feb. 26, Gomez faced a felony charge and the investigation remained active, with police still seeking Rivas in connection with the stabbing and the reported theft of the victim’s vehicle. Officials have not announced additional charges or a public hearing date tied to the new filings. Police have said the next steps include continued witness interviews and follow-up work to locate the suspect accused of fleeing the scene.
Author note: Last updated February 26, 2026.