Reality star’s baby mama reveals lover ‘beat her to a pulp’ before plunging to his death from NYC hotel

The mystery woman who spent the night with a man who plunged to his death from a New York hotel is a reality star’s baby mama – who claims their night together turned into a fight for survival.

The red-haired woman spotted being led away by cops after the man fell 15 stories to his death from a Times Square hotel is Brittany Malsch – the ex-girlfriend of Real Housewives of New Jersey star John Fuda, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.

Emmanuel Velez, 39, died around 6.30am on April 5 after plunging from the 45 Times Square hotel – where a room typically goes for $279 a night. 

He had spent the night with Malsch after the two connected online.

But in an exclusive interview, Malsch, 37, told DailyMail.com that it wasn’t a romantic encounter, but a terrifying night where she claims she had to fight to stay alive.

She accused the father-of-one of ‘beating her to a pulp’ and ‘pulverizing her head’ in the moments before he jumped.

Emmanuel Velez, 39, plunged to his death from a NYC hotel on April 5 was dating Brittany Malsch, 37, the ex-girlfriend of RHONJ star John Fuda

Malsch is the biological mother of Fuda’s son Jaiden, who turned 18 in January. John has been married to Rachel Fuda since 2017 and the couple share four children including Jaiden

Malsch said the two met through a dating website and had been seeing each other for two months. When she went to meet Velez at 3.30am, she told DailyMail.com that he was doing drugs and ‘beat her to a pulp’

Malsch had been dating Velez for around two months and agreed to meet him and a friend at around 3.30am.

‘When I got there, I knew that they were doing drugs,’ she told DailyMail.com. ‘I don’t know exactly what. I honestly don’t even understand what happened.

‘Things were awkward between us because I hadn’t been speaking to him since he had attacked me for the second time, two weeks prior. I ended up in the hospital with broken ribs.

‘His friend left, and for one second, everything was lovely. We were on the bed, we were cuddling, and then it was like I saw his soul leave his body,’ she said.

‘He turned green, and he couldn’t move his mouth. It was, like, stuck shut and I’m asking him, “What’s wrong? Why do you look like that?”

‘All of a sudden, his eyes rolled back into his head, and his body went limp. I thought he’d died. I started freaking out, and I started shaking him, “Wake up, wake up! Get up, get up!”

When Velez’s friend left, Malsch said the night started off on a romantic note until he suddenly turned green and passed out. When he woke up, he immediately attacked her

During the brawl, Malsch alleged he beat her head with a closed fist, ripped off her fingernail when she dug it into her mouth in an attempt to escape, ripped out her hair and squeezed her nose so tight it fractured

Hotel guests called security when they heard her screams. At one point, Velez covered her mouth with his and tried to ‘suck the air out of me’

‘The second he snapped out of it, he came right for my throat, and he got me on that ground, and he just pulverized me. He pulverized my head.’

Velez allegedly ripped Brittany’s fingernail off during the brawl after she dug her finger into his mouth in an attempt to escape.

She added that she was ‘fighting for her life’ during the battle, with other hotel guests calling security after hearing screaming.

‘He was pinching my nose and had his knee over my throat and hand over my mouth,’ Malsch said. ‘I thought I blacked out. I thought I was being choked so hard.

‘I was screaming, “He’s trying to kill me! Help!”. He fractured my nose by squeezing it shut so tight, he also tried to cover my mouth with his mouth and suck the air out of me while he had my nose shut.

‘He kept closed-handed punching me in my eyes and head. He was a monster, the devil took control of him and I believe there wouldn’t have been any other outcome.

Alleged text messages between Malsch and Velez where he threatened her life. She told DailyMail.com this had been the third time he attacked her 

Malsch says his death was an accident and that he ‘miscalculated’ how far of a jump it was from the 15th floor of the hotel to the high school rooftop

‘If it wasn’t me that night. It would be someone else in the future.’

After fighting Velez off, Malsch believes that he tried to make a quick escape as she opened the door to hotel security.

He and his friends had allegedly removed the security locks from the hotel windows earlier in the night, allowing them to open wider.

Malsch says his death was an accident and that he ‘miscalculated’ how far of a jump it was from the 15th floor of the hotel to the high school rooftop.

She insisted, ‘He probably thought it was the police at the door, not security. He knew what he had just done to me and he knew what I looked like.

‘If he didn’t jump and try to get away, he probably would’ve gone to jail for the rest of his life.

The 45 Times Square hotel where Velez plunged to his death around 6.30am on April 5

The mother-of-one was mentioned in season 13 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey after Rachel Fuda took steps to adopt Fuda and Malsch’s son Jaiden 

‘I went to answer the door, I was covered in blood, and I could hear him leave out the window.

‘I was naturally shocked, but not sad. The man just tried his hardest to kill me, how can I feel bad? I’m happy I won’t ever have to deal with him again.’

Malsch says she has barely recovered from the attack, suffering from a black eye and a fractured nose after Velez ripped her hair out.

She wasn’t aware that he had actually died from jumping out of the window until police found his body on the roof.

Authorities have ruled the death an accident, with the Chief Medical Examiner yet to rule on a cause of death.

But Malsch believes it was an accident, branding Velez a ‘coward’, who wouldn’t commit suicide.

Malsch said she had been trying to focus on rebuilding her life after being released for a prior arrest in May 2024

‘His death could have been avoided,’ she added. ‘Had he not been such a violent and abusive, evil human being who thought he was going to kill me that night I believe he would have had nothing to run from.

‘I am a tough person. Anybody that knows me will tell you, “Britt, she’ll kick you’re a**.”

‘I truly thought I was going to die that night. I can’t believe that I got out of it, and I can’t believe that he’s dead.’

Malsch said she had been trying to focus on rebuilding her life after being released for a prior arrest in May 2024. 

She spent nearly two years at the halfway house which has a residential community release program for incarcerated women with substance abuse and mental health issues.

The mother-of-one was mentioned in season 13 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey after Rachel Fuda, John’s wife since 2017, took steps to legally adopt John and Brittany’s son, Jaiden, who turned 18 in January.

Jaiden has been estranged from Malsch since she was in and out of prison 

Malsch had been estranged from him since she was in and out of prison. She was in a halfway house in New Jersey when the Fuda family made their first appearance on season 13 of the show in 2023.

Public records show she has previously been charged with burglary-entering a structure, laundering $250,000 cash and possession with intent to distribute crystal methamphetamine.

Malsch and Fuda dated for four years and were engaged for two before they broke up in 2009. In 2011, Fuda was granted sole custody of Jaiden.

Prior to the incident, Malsch claims she and Velez had gotten into two other arguments – in one of which she thought she had broken her rib.

‘This wasn’t the first time he had attacked me – it was the third time. Each time it progressed. After he attacked me [the last time], he kept repeating, “I’m going to kill you.”‘

She said, ‘He was doing all these crazy things. I didn’t want to go to the cops. I just tried to keep ignoring him, and he would pop up where I was or just be on the street, and then start following me.’

Malsch and Fuda dated for four years and were engaged for two before they broke up in 2009. John was granted sole custody of Jaiden in 2011

Reflecting on the incident, Malsch believes Velez ‘got what he deserved.’ She said, ‘When someone does what he did to me, he deserves to be in hell right now.’

In a statement, the NYPD confirmed that Velez was the man who died in the incident, adding: ‘On Saturday, April 5, 2025, at approximately 0629 hours, police responded to a 911 call for an aided at 125 West 45 Street, within the confines of the Midtown North Precinct.

‘Upon arrival, officers observed an unconscious and unresponsive 39-year-old male with injuries indicative of having fallen from an elevated position.

‘EMS responded and pronounced the aided deceased on scene. The Office of Chief Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death.’

Velez was laid to rest on April 12 at St. John’s Cemetery in Middle Village, New York.