Fitchburg woman stabs coworker at Leominster AIS over “inappropriate” texts with her husband

LEOMINSTER — On Friday, August 1, 2025, at approximately 5:01 p.m., Officer Michael Dingman of the Leominster Police Department was dispatched to AIS (Affordable Interior Systems), a furniture manufacturer, located on 25 Tucker Drive.

(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Michael Dingman and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)

Officer Dingman said that when he arrived on scene at approximately 5:05 p.m., he waited for Officer Marjus Zylyftari to arrive so he could translate the conversation because the reporting party, Ayleena, only spoke Spanish.

“Officer Zylyftari translated the conversation,” Officer Dingman said. “Ayleena stated she was working today at approximately 3:00 p.m. when a female, later identified as Juliana Zapata, stabbed her in the left hand.”

Officer Dingman said he noticed a bandage wrapped around Ayleena’s left hand.

“Ayleena unwrapped the bandage and I viewed a fresh cut mark with a red blood stain,” Officer Dingman said. Later adding, “Ayleena stated the other coworkers witnessed the altercation and helped separate the parties. Ayleena stated a coworker, later identified as Austria [last name redacted], walked away with her. After the initial incident, Juliana picked up a trash can and threw it at Ayleena narrowly missing her because she dodged it. Juliana was sent home and no longer on scene.”

According to police, Juliana M. Zapata, 24, resides in Fitchburg, MA.

Ayleena told Officer Dingman that she does not know Zapata, but she believes she has a husband who was identified as Sebastian [last name redacted] who works at the company.

“Ayleena stated she believes Juliana thought she was having inappropriate conversations with Sebastian,” Officer Dingman said. “Ayleena denied having intimate conversations with Sebastian. Ayleena stated she does not know Sebastian’s last name nor Juliana’s name.”

Officer Dingman added that Ayleena said she wanted to pursue charges for the incident. Ayleena also declined medical attention on scene.

“I followed up at the business and spoke to the Human Resources (HR) employee by the name of Raina,” Officer Dingman said. “She showed me the video footage of the incident but stated she needed permission to give out the video. I viewed the camera footage showing a female attacking another female from behind. She appears to have something in her hand and strikes at the other female’s hand at approximately 3:04 p.m. Due to the camera quality, the images of the faces of the two females are not clear. I had my body cam active while I viewed this footage. I asked about the location of the scissors and no one knew exactly where they were located.”

Officer Dingman said that, at this time, Raina called in a witness, Austria and asked her about the trash can incident.

“Austria spoke Spanish so Officer Zylyftari translated,” Officer Dingman said. “Austria stated everyone was separating when Juliana picked up a trash can filled with paper and threw it in Ayleena’s direction. Ayleena had to dodge the trash can in order to avoid getting hit by it.”

Raina told Officer Dingman that no one witnessed the actual stabbing, employees only saw the altercation immediately afterward.

“I asked for the information regarding Juliana and Sebastian. Raina stated she could not give out that information but would ask the supervisor of AIS that is on duty to give that information,” Officer Dingman said. “The supervisor came in the HR office and handed me a note.”

Officer Dingman said that note had Zapata’s full name, a partial date of birth (DOB) with month and day, but no year and a phone number.

“I asked him for the year of the DOB and the address,” Officer Dingman said. “He stated he could not give me that information due to his company policy. He stated he did not want to get sued giving out that information.”

Officer Dingman stated the supervisor said that, after the company completed its investigation and its attorneys reviewed the matter, he would notify Officer Dingman of the findings.

“I informed the supervisor that I am conducting a criminal investigation regarding felony charges and his case is civil in the workplace,” Officer Dingman said. “I informed him he is withholding information concerning a criminal case as I was not asking for corporate employee records, I was simply asking for the basic information regarding identifying information so I could conduct my investigation for the safety of the victim as their employee just got stabbed. The supervisor responded with ‘allegedly,’ which I responded that there was video footage and statements confirming the incident took place, which I have already seen and heard.”

Officer Dingman added, “Since the supervisor was worried about getting sued, I informed him of the potential dangers the victim may incur if the suspect was left unidentified and also the safety of the victim in the workplace not being prioritized may open themselves up to lawsuits. The supervisor said he would call his boss.”

Officer Dingman said the supervisor came back with his boss, Lea White, on the phone.

“She identified herself as the area vice president,” Officer Dingman said. “I informed her of my investigation and she told me she could not give out the information I was inquiring about. She was worried about giving me the home address of Juliana and said what if something happens and I asked what would happen as I am a police officer and she said she does not do hypotheticals. I explained to Lea the same information I told the supervisor on scene and she said she would call her boss. She ended up calling back and declining to give further information regarding Juliana.”

Officer Dingman stated he asked the supervisor, before leaving the business, to allow him to view the incident location and the items used in the attacks.

“He stated the incident location was on the other side of the building and did not appear to know where the weapons that were used were located,” Officer Dingman said. “I believed the business did not want to further help with the case.”

Officer Dingman then went back to the station and had dispatch check for Zapata in the RMV database.

“Dispatch located Juliana out of Fitchburg. I could not confirm at this time if she was a match to my suspect as the video footage was not of good enough quality,” Officer Dingman said. “I called the phone number I was given by AIS but it went to voicemail. I left a message on the voicemail to call me back. A short time later I was in my cruiser when Juliana called back. I called into the station and had my body cam active while I spoke on the phone. I used the language line services as Juliana spoke Spanish. The translator, Camilla ID# [redacted], translated the conversation.”

Officer Dingman said Zapata identified herself and said she would come down to the station to speak with him.

“She stated she was involved in the incident at AIS with Aylenna,” Officer Dingman added.

Zapata then showed up at the station with Sebastian, her husband.

“Officer Zylyftari translated the conversation with Juliana. Officer Zylyftari read Juliana her Miranda rights and she agreed to speak with us,” Officer Dingman said. “Juliana stated she found inappropriate text messages between Ayleena and Sebastian on his phone. Ayleena stated she took photos of the conversation. Sebastian deleted the messages on his phone and hers so there is no proof of it.”

Officer Dingman said that Zapata stated she was upset and when she went to work, she attacked Ayleena.

“She admitted to stabbing Ayleena with scissors and throwing a trash can at her,” Officer Dingman said. “Juliana stated she was upset and hurt about the situation. Juliana was cooperative while talking with officers at the station.”

Officer Dingman said that, at this time, he told Zapata she was under arrest for the incident. He then walked her back to the booking area before returning to the lobby, where he spoke with Sebastian.

“I used the language line services to communicate with him. The translator was Carlos ID#[redacted],” Officer Dingman said. “Sebastian stated he has done inappropriate behavior in the past but did not do anything with Ayleena. He stated he did not communicate with her in a sexual way or a way that would be considered cheating. He stated he texted her after the incident apologizing for what happened. He showed me a text between them with only his message.”

Officer Dingman said that, based on Zapata’s admission, video he reviewed at AIS, photographs of the injury and attack, and a witness statement, he charged Juliana Zapata with the following:

• Assault & Battery with Dangerous Weapon (scissors)
• Assault with Dangerous Weapon (trash can)

Zapata was arraigned in Leominster District Court on Aug. 4, 2025. Following her arraignment, she was released on personal recognizance under the condition that she stay away from/not contact the victim. Zapata’s next court date was a pretrial hearing scheduled for Sept. 9, 2025.

Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story took place in August, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.

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