A 24-year-old man from Auburn pleaded guilty on Tuesday to committing a hate crime against a Black woman aboard a bus in Kent and attacking her with a knife.
Adan Hernandez-Mayoral, who has a history of robbery and domestic violence, could face 57 months, or just under five years, in prison.
On March 7, 2024, a woman called 911 to report she’d been stabbed by a man while riding a King County Metro transit bus. The woman, who is Black, said Hernandez-Mayoral sat behind her with another man and started saying racial slurs to her and saying, “I hate Black people,” according to court documents.
She got up from her seat after 10 minutes of the comments and walked to the front of the bus, according to court documents. But Hernandez-Mayoral followed her and pulled her off the bus when the doors opened, then punched punching her and attempted to stab her multiple times with a knife before fleeing with the other man.
The woman was wearing a heavy coat and the knife didn’t reach her skin. Police said her coat was damaged from the knife attack.
Police who were searching the area later found Hernandez-Mayoral underneath a car after a nearby resident reported he was hiding behind a shed.
Hernandez-Mayoral was held on $250,000 bail and has been in custody since the case was filed, King County prosecutor’s office spokesperson Casey McNerthney said.
Hernandez-Mayoral was previously convicted of two counts of domestic violence for felony harassment and assault in the third degree, according to court documents. He had beaten and strangled his domestic partner on Christmas Day in 2019, held a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her.
He was sentenced to 90 days in jail and 12 months of community custody. Seven months later, in 2020, Hernandez-Mayoral and another man robbed three teenagers at gunpoint, stealing items including an iPhone, AirPods and necklace, according to court documents.
Hernandez-Mayoral pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery in the second degree, for which he was sentenced to 29 months in prison and 18 months of community custody.
Hernandez-Mayoral pleaded guilty to third-degree theft for stealing a backpack with a laptop and cash from a man on a King County Metro bus in January 2024. By the time he pleaded guilty in July 2025, he was already serving 12 months of court-ordered supervision and did not serve additional jail time.
