The longtime girlfriend of a 47-year-old father found stabbed to death in the lobby of her Brooklyn NYCHA building has been charged with his slaying, authorities said Monday.
Kaydene Martin, 40, was arrested Sunday and charged with manslaughter and firearm possession in the death of Donald Nesbit, with whom she shared three of his four children, ages 2 to 12.
Prosecutors claim Martin was struck by the victim, flashed a kitchen knife in an attempt to persuade him to flee, and then stabbed him to death inside her eighth-floor apartment at 5:40 a.m. Saturday.
“They were intermittent. Margaret Nesbit, the victim’s mother, stated Martin continued going over there for the kids.” She was always taking his keys and phone and hiding them from him. “All the time.”
According to authorities, Martin stabbed Nesbit once in the abdomen at her home in the Roosevelt Houses on Marcus Garvey Boulevard near Dekalb Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Nesbit, who lived with his mother in Coney Island, fled his girlfriend’s apartment, reaching the lobby before falling and dying there.
The murder ended an often-contentious relationship between the suspect and the victim.
“I brought him into the world, but he was hers,” the victim’s mother admitted. “She felt that she could manipulate him, control him, and do whatever she wanted with him.”
Nesbit had begun to make plans to find an apartment for himself and his oldest child, Heaven, whose mother died in July of a heart issue. Heaven, who is now 12 years old, is an orphan.
Nesbit’s mother believes that her son’s plans to end his connection with Martin set her off.
A law enforcement source said Nesbit was arrested in July 2012 for hitting his girlfriend in the face. The case was eventually sealed. According to the source, Nesbit was arrested almost two years later, in December 2014, for a domestic disturbance in which Martin was robbed. That arrest was later sealed.
“I’m not going to say he’s an angel,” remarked Nesbit’s mother. “But he’s not a violent person, you see, and he just couldn’t get away.”
Martin appeared in Brooklyn Criminal Court for her arraignment on Monday with a black eye from being assaulted by Nesbit, according to her lawyer, Tina Nguyen.
“Miss Martin, if anything, was the victim in this relationship,” Nguyen stated in court. “Miss Martin, if anything, was the victim in this relationship.”
According to Assistant District Attorney Ari Rottenberg, there were 10 domestic violence incidents reported between the pair, with Martin being the victim in nine of them.
Prosecutors claimed Martin and Nesbit had argued before going to bed, and Martin awoke to Nesbit hitting her in the face.
“[Martin] then grabbed the kitchen knife and brandished it at [Nesbit] to get [Nesbit] to leave the apartment,” Rottenberg said, adding that Nesbit attempted to calm Martin down and remove the weapon from her.
“The defendant then stabbed [Nesbit] about the abdomen and [Nesbit] left the apartment.”
Martin’s lawyer stated that her client’s two sisters and brother were in the courtroom to support her, that her mother was on her way to New York City, and that Martin is the mother of five children, including the three she had with Nesbit, two of whom are toddlers.
“This is more than just a case about her,” Nguyen explained. “This is a case about all five of her children who rely on her.”
Martin had a warrant from a petty larceny case in 2019, in which she pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct on the condition that she pay $3,000 in restitution, but there was no record of her paying that amount, despite her claims. Because of the warrant, Judge Masetaru Marubashi ordered Martin detained without bail.
Nesbit’s mother stated that despite the tension between her son and Martin, he continued to return for the children.
“He spent a lot of time over there, but he didn’t have to,” his mother explained. I explained to him. I remarked, ‘Listen, you’re getting older. You should find someone excellent to settle down with.”
Nesbit told his mother that when he slept at Martin’s house, he had recently begun sleeping in the children’s beds.
“He said there’s nothing really between them anymore,” the mother explained.
Margaret Nesbit said her son called on Friday, saying he was going to buy fish and return to Coney Island.
“When I got back, he wasn’t there,” she claimed. “So I responded, alright, perhaps he decided to stay with the children. So I didn’t call him and instead let him cool down.” The police officer told me that my child had died.
“I couldn’t do anything but cry,” she said. “I’m still in kind of shock, still wondering what happened.”
Despite years of disagreement, his mother never expected this conclusion.
“I am surprised that [Martin] would actually kill him,” his mother remarked. “I’m surprised that she took it to the extent that she did after he had done so much for her and those kids.”
Friends of the victim are equally distraught.
“He was a stunning individual. He was an outgoing individual who never had an attitude. He had a positive attitude. And for someone to take his life in that manner, that is extremely painful,” said family friend Tracy Monroe, 58, who has known the victim for over 30 years.
“This family deserves justice. This is heartless. How could you do that to a man? He has a gorgeous heart, I swear. Donald was so sweet. I’ve never seen him mad; I’ve never seen him angry at anyone.”
Another buddy, who had known Nesbit since he was 12, described the victim as generous and loving.
“About a year or two ago, my friend, he’s kind of messed up. So [Nesbit] took the jacket off his back and gave it to him. We were walking to the train and he said ‘I’ll be right back, I’m gonna get another jacket upstairs,’” said Andre Jackson, 49.
“I’m very hurt. Last night I was thinking I should call him but I was like, it’s the weekend, he’s with his kids. I’ll see him on Monday.”
