Alec Katsnelson
They constantly fight, she thinks he’s a cheat, and now she’s accused of stabbing him.
But the lovesick couple whose rocky relationship took a bloody turn when Yekatrina Pusepa allegedly plunged a knife into the chest of Alec Katsnelson will survive the ordeal, a neighbor who knows the pair said yesterday.
“They’ll be back together, I guarantee it,” said the neighbor, who would not give his name. “He’s going to forgive her, I just know it.”
But there may be bars between the lovebirds for a while.
Pusepa is charged with attempted murder and assault for Friday’s bloodshed. She faces between 8 1/3 and 25 years in prison if convicted.
She charged at Katsnelson with a knife in each hand and pierced his lung with one of the blades, prosecutors said.
Detectives didn’t buy her claim that he stabbed himself — and were more moved by her allegations of philandering.
“[Cops] told me she lashed out because he was constantly cheating on her,” neighbor Tricia Evi, 25, a St. John’s student, told The Post.
Pusepa, a Latvian immigrant who was in the process of becoming a US citizen, sobbed uncontrollably and was covered in blood as she was led in handcuffs from their Gold Street building at around 3:30 a.m.
She was cleaned up for her court appearance yesterday, though she once again turned on the waterworks as her bail was set at $125,000.
While she was hauled off to jail, Katsnelson was recovering from his near-fatal woundx after another surgery at Bellevue Hospital.
“She could have killed him!” said his mother, Lena Katsnelson.
Lena and his pals have repeatedly tried to convince her son to end the relationship that began in November.
On March 7, Katsnelson tried to kick her out of the apartment after confronting her about a drug habit, neighbors and a friend said.
“He told her, ‘Look, I can’t be around drugs and you have a serious problem and need help,’ ” said a childhood pal of Katsnelson’s.
Pusepa threw a heavy candle at him and lashed out with a series of scratches that cut deep into his face, he later said.
But when cops arrived, he was the one slapped in cuffs.
“She had some bruises on her arms from the fight and they arrested him,” said his mother.
Alec spent the weekend in jail, and he finally vowed to leave her amid family pressure to break up.
He ignored her text messages and phone calls — and started filing paperwork for a restraining order.
“I really thought they stopped talking,” his mom said. “All of his friends told him to leave her.”
But suddenly they were back together. “We can’t control that,” said Lena.
Pusepa’s lawyer, Kevin O’Connell, said: “The parties have been in a relationship and it’s a relationship that has apparently had its ups and downs.”
Her Facebook page could help explain Alec’s attraction.
Pusepa, a California transplant is featured in a variety of sexy photos that show her wild side.
She’s seen getting cozy with female pals, drinking while driving, and even holding a gun.
Additional reporting by Daniel Prendergast