Woman stabbed to death after fight in Brooklyn subway station
BROWNSVILLE, Brooklyn (WABC) -- An argument inside a subway station in Brooklyn ended with a woman fatally stabbing another woman who had pepper-sprayed her, according to police.
It happened around 9 p.m. at the Rutland Road-Sutter Avenue station after the two women apparently got into a dispute on the 3 train.
Police say 30-year-old LaTanya Watson got into an argument with another woman on the train and then sprayed her with pepper spray.
The 20-year-old woman who was sprayed responded by pulling out a small knife and repeatedly stabbing Watson in her neck, arm and face, according to investigators.
Sources tell Eyewitness News evidence shows the victim first approaching the suspect in an aggressive manner as they exited the turnstile, pepper spraying the suspect, then repeatedly hitting the 20-year-old, who fought back, pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim.
"She went to school, graduated, had a job, went to work," dad Frank Watson said. "This is an unfortunate situation, and I haven't made sense of it yet."
Watson was taken to the hospital, where she died.
"Her bonnet is laying in a pool of blood," her boyfriend, Jerelle Martin, said.
Martin described the moment detectives showed him the crime scene and the bonnet that Watson often wore to her job at the Fairway grocery store in Red Hook. But also with her on that commute home was a bottle of pepper spray.
"This is not one of those types of neighborhoods," Martin said. "I told her, you have to protect yourself."
Later Tuesday morning, police announced they had taken the suspect into custody after locating her at a hospital.
The woman, Mia Simmons of East Flatbush, is charged with manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon.
"Very jolly, very sweet, very respectful," Watson's aunt, Joan McGriff, said. "She gave people respect all the time. She mind her manners and she mind her business. So whatever happened here, I wouldn't even know. I just was shocked to hear what happened."
The station was back up and running, but Martin's world stood still.
"She was my queen," he said. "She was the most beautiful woman I ever met in this world, and these females took her life. It still does not feel real."
It remains unclear what the fight was about.
Neighbors and commuters say they are fed up with the violence.
"You always talk about Black Lives Matter, but what about black people killing black people?" commuter Karen DeShields said. "That doesn't make sense to me."
"That's sad," commuter Cornelia Yearwood said. "They need to put more police on the train to protect people."
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