The victims of the East Village knife attack included a woman and her husband who died in the attack

Two of the three victims stabbed to death during a bloody street fight in the East Village were a married couple; the husband died from a slash to the throat, officials said Tuesday.

The 30-year-old suspect, Alejandro Piedra, has been charged with murder and attempted murder. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years to life in prison.

According to police, Piedra told them he acted in self-defense.

“I don’t care if you’re a woman or a child,” Piedra said, according to police. “If my life is on the line, you’re fair game.”

At Piedra’s arraignment Tuesday in Manhattan Criminal Court, prosecutors said Piedra had an altercation with the husband, his wife and the second man on East 13th Street between First Avenue and Avenue A. Officials said all four knew each other from the neighborhood.

During the argument, the man accompanying the couple hit Piedra with a piece of wood, causing him to pull out his knife and stab him in the head and back, authorities said.

Piedra admitted to stabbing the three men, but insisted he believed his own life was in danger, officials said.

“The deceased ran toward the defendant and the two got into a physical altercation,” said Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Daniel Makofsky. “As the defendant and the deceased prepared to fight, an unidentified man ran up from behind the defendant and struck him in the back of the head with a glass lamp, causing the defendant to fall to the ground.”

Makofsky said it was not clear who hit Piedra with the lamp.

Piedra then ran after the husband and continued to fight with him until they pulled each other back. Makofsky said Piedra pulled out his knife while the husband grabbed the broken lamp on the sidewalk.

“Instead of approaching the deceased, the defendant approached his wife, who was standing at the side of the road, and then stabbed her several times,” the prosecutor said.

He added that the woman posed no threat to Piedra when he attacked her. When the husband saw that Piedra had stabbed the woman, he hit him with the broken lamp.

Piedra then stabbed the husband several times, inflicting fatal wounds to his neck, prosecutors said. He then approached the woman again and stabbed her several more times, they added.

In 2018, Piedra was accused of assaulting two women by hitting them with umbrellas. One of the victims was 69 years old. The case was transferred to the Mental Health Court, where the accused completed his trial in 2021.

Piedra’s next court date is June 28.