The 16-year-old girl who allegedly stabbed a 29-year-old man to death on Christmas Eve has been charged with first degree manslaughter and faces 25 years in prison, according to Queens DA Richard A. Brown.
Cyan Brown, of 40-13 10th Street in the Queensbridge Houses surrendered to police at the 114th Precinct on Tuesday, December 29, accompanied by her attorney, Samuel Gregory.
A police spokesperson said cops located a witness to the stabbing, who picked Brown out of a lineup. A spokesperson for the DA told The Queens Courier that the prosecutor “felt that the first degree manslaughter charge was warranted.”
The teen had reportedly been in hiding at a relative’s house in Brooklyn since the December 24 incident that killed “aspiring rapper” Thomas “Black Box” Winston.
The incident stemmed from an argument some time after 8 p.m. in front of the Big New York Fried Chicken & Pizza at 21st Street and 41st Avenue, across the street from the Queensbridge Houses, where Brown lives with her mother and father.
Early reports portrayed Brown as the victim of a sexually-tinged attack, after an MTA employee witnessed her being chased by a group of “seven or eight” men, who pulled out of a subway car and dragged her off the platform. She broke free and escaped on another “F” train.
Witnesses reportedly said that Wilson “came on” to Brown, while she was ordering food in the store, and that “at one point he kicked her and threw liquor on her.”
Relatives and friends of Winston’s paint a different picture, describing the ex-con who was reportedly living in a “nearby homeless shelter” as “turning his life around,” and claiming that Brown, a high school sophomore, “had a history of stabbing people.”
“If you had an argument with her, she’d stab you,” a cousin of the deceased reportedly said.
After initially viewing the incident as a likely case of self defense, police reportedly decided that Brown’s story “didn’t add up.” Cops say that Brown got into a shouting match with Winston after a male friend of hers bumped into him on the subway at the station. “You could say excuse me,” Winston reportedly said, touching off the confrontation that escalated as the parties emerged into the street.
A police source reportedly said that Brown took over the argument and got “mouthy.” Cops allege that Brown pulled a knife from her bag and lunged at Wilson, stabbing him. “She was the main aggressor, without a doubt,” the source is quoted as saying.
Gregory told The Queens Courier he was confident “she will be exonerated.” He said he would seek low or no bail.
A police source told The Queens Courier that Winston’s record included “assault, criminal possession of a weapon and resisting arrest,” as well as “pending charges.”
According to DA Brown, Thomas Winston, 29, was arrested for possession of a box cutter and more than a half-ounce of cocaine on September 17, behind 40-03 12th Street in the Queensbridge Houses, just yards from the subway entrance.
He gave his address as 630 Riverside Drive in Manhattan, which is the location of “Fortune Academy,” a shelter for homeless former inmates.
