PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Philadelphia woman has been charged with murder for last week’s triple stabbing on Lincoln University's campus, which left one student dead. The woman is the sister of one of the students involved in the fight.
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Authorities say Nydira Smith, 39, stabbed three students on the night of Feb. 16 after a fight broke out in a dorm. One of them, 21-year-old Jawine Evans, was fatally stabbed in the neck.
The two others, both 22 years old, were treated and released for non-fatal stab wounds.
Investigators say the attack took place in the first-floor hallway of a dorm room. Detectives recovered video that shows Smith stabbing Evans in the neck. Evans is seen clutching his neck and staggering backward, yelling, “She stabbed me!”
Evans died at the scene.
The video also shows Smith lunging toward the two surviving students with a knife, and officials say at least six others were in danger of being stabbed.
Several people involved in the fight were identified via witness videos, including Smith’s brother, who is a student at Lincoln.
Additional footage shows Smith’s car getting to campus at 9:07 p.m. — right before the attack — and leaving 15 minutes later.
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“We believe this was premeditated,” Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said Thursday at a press conference. “[Smith] took an hour and a half to drive from her home in West Mount Airy out to Lincoln University with a knife to join in a fight, with the intent to kill.”
Police conducted a search warrant of Smith’s home the next day and found blood-stained clothing and a set of knives that had one missing. They also found blood in her car and medical paperwork that indicated she had sought treatment for a cut on her hand.
In a statement, Evans’ mother, Beverly, expressed her and her family’s grief.
“We thought he would be safe on the campus of Lincoln University, and never dreamed such a terrible thing could happen there,” she said. “We’re stunned at the lax university security, but extremely grateful to Chester County law enforcement for catching Jawine’s killer.”
Smith is charged with first- and third-degree murder as well as other related offenses. She is being held without bail in the Chester County Prison.