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More Details On Teen Who Fatally Stabbed Her Alleged Harasser
By
Ben Muessig
Published Dec 26, 2009
Modified Dec 26, 2009
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By
Ben Muessig
Published Dec 26, 2009
Modified Dec 26, 2009
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The 16-year-old Queens resident who stabbed and killed a man in or outside the 21st Street-Queensbridge F station only pulled the knife after the man tried to grope her, according to her family. High school sophomore Cyan Brown stabbed aspiring rapper Thomas "Black Box" Winston at around 9 pm on Christmas Eve when the 29-year-old — backed by five to seven of friends — tried to fondle her, her relatives said.
The altercation began outside the Big New York Fried Chicken and Pizza when a group of men confronted the teen, chased her onto the subway platform, and pulled her off a Queens-bound F train, according to police. That's when Brown stabbed her assailant and escaped, perhaps on a Manhattan-bound F train. But some witnesses said the stabbing took place on the street and that the men chased Brown into the subway station after the stabbing to try to stop her from getting away. The Times notes that no arrests have been made, no murder weapon has been recovered, and police have not yet spoken with the teen — who is in hiding with relatives in Brooklyn amidst fears of retaliation.
After the incident, Brown apparently told her 21-year-old sister Lynnea Adams that Winston had tried to force himself upon her before she pulled out the blade. “She didn’t mean for that to happen, but at the same time she had to protect herself,” her sibling said. “She’s a young girl. She’s a child.” Brown's father also defended his daughter's actions. "She said she feared for her life and she felt like she was going to be raped, so she panicked," the teen's dad, Tony Lovitt, 48, told the Post. "She tried to run away, but another gentleman grabbed her. She . . . did what she had to do. She was scared to death with seven or eight males following her. Anyone would do the same thing."
But relatives of Winston — who apparently know Brown through cousins who met her in a dance troupe — claim that the teen has violent tendencies. Winston's cousin Tedra Laws, 31, told the Daily News: "We can't answer why she would stab him ... She had a history of stabbing people. If you had an argument with her, she'd stab you." Another one of Winston's cousins claimed the altercation began when a boy who was with Brown bumped into Winston.
Winston — who lived in a shelter nearby and had been arrested multiple times on weapons, drugs charges and an attempted murder charge — was reportedly heading to his aunt's home with gifts for his 10-month-old son, who she was raising. “He said he was on his way, but he never made it,” said his aunt Diane Greenspan. “He was a person at the wrong place at the wrong time He was trying to get his life together so he could get his child back."
Tagged
21st street-queensbridge
black box
cyan brown
f train
fondle
grope
harassment
long island city
stabbing
thomas winston
Ben Muessig
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