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Man Confesses To Killing 16-Yr-Old Girl, Says He Only Meant To Slash Her


By

John Del Signore

Published Nov 3, 2011

Modified Nov 3, 2011


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By

John Del Signore

Published Nov 3, 2011

Modified Nov 3, 2011


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Police have arrested a 22-year-old Brooklyn man and charged him with the murder of 16-year-old Kyanna Thomas, who was stabbed in the throat and left to die on a street corner in Brownsville early one morning in September. Sources say Rashad Salaam has confessed to killing Thomas, because he feared Thomas was setting him up "for an ambush and a beating," the Daily News reports. The two were online acquaintances, and it's unclear what set off her feud, but the grisly slaying was apparently unintentional.

Thomas was found with her throat slashed on MacDougal Street and Saratoga Avenue at 3 a.m. on September 25th. The teenager, who lived in Queens, had been staying with her aunt on the night of the murder, and her family says she sneaked out to attend a party. Sometime after 3 a.m. she used her cell phone to call 911 as she lay dying in a pool of her own blood.

One police source tells the News Salaam "wanted to give her a 'buck fifty'," a reference to a slash wound from her ear to her mouth which requires 150 stitches to close. "But he wound up slashing her throat by mistake. He meant to slash her not kill her," he told police.

Tagged

brooklyn

brownsville

crime

kyanna thomas

murder

rasheed salaam

stabbing


John Del Signore

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Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


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