A 43-year-old mom was stabbed to death outside her Staten Island building while defending her daughter during a huge brawl this week, according to law enforcement officials.
Authorities say that around 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, outside her Henderson Avenue building near Alaska Street, which is a part of NYCHA’s West Brighton Houses, Jennira Roundtree sustained multiple knife wounds to her chest.
According to accounts, she was trying to help her daughter and bore the brunt of the assault.
A 30-year-old neighbor told The Daily News that a group of females started a fight with Roundtree’s 12-year-old daughter, leading the mother to defend her.
Roundtree’s pals initially sought assistance from the girl’s older sister, but the mother stepped in sooner, according to the neighbor.
The neighbor said she couldn’t see the mayhem due to the scaffolding, but she did hear what transpired. She dashed downstairs and saw officers carrying the mortally injured Roundtree away.
“Some girls come in to fight with the little girl and some friends, they go upstairs and then the sister was coming,” the neighbor said. “I don’t know where her mom came from. Maybe she was outside [already].”
Richmond University Medical Center took Roundtree and pronounced him dead.
“The police took her,” she said. “When they carried her, I saw she had a lot of blood. I heard her say, ‘I can’t breathe!’ That’s the only thing she said.”
The melee involved approximately 20 persons, according to authorities. Authorities confirmed that the victim’s daughter was on the scene, but she refused to cooperate.
There have been no arrests made.
“This neighborhood was important to her because she wanted different for all the kids coming up,” one of Roundtree’s friends told WABC . “And she was trying to make a difference, and she was.”