WEST CHESTER, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — The 40-year-old woman charged with stabbing and killing a Lincoln University student during a fight on campus last year told jurors Monday she was acting in self defense, she was only trying to keep her brother safe, and she did not intend to kill anyone.
Nydira Smith, accused of stabbing and killing Jawine Evans in a university dormitory during a fight on Feb. 16, 2022, is facing first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
Smith’s brother, Malik Stevens, was a senior at Lincoln. He testified he and his friends became the target of violence after another student accused his roommate of stealing a wallet. He said he called his sister, asking her to come get him, saying one of the other students might have a gun.
Prosecutors say Smith brought a knife to campus, in their words, “to finish the fight.”
However, Smith, testifying in her own defense, said she often carried a knife for protection. She said she only wanted to get her brother safely off campus. When she arrived, the other group of students approached looking for a fight, outnumbering her brother and his friends, Smith testified.
She said she tried to defuse the situation, but one of the other students punched her in the face.
She said, during the fight, it fell out of her pocket. She picked it up and, fearing for her and her brother’s safety, she remembers, she stabbed one student in the back and another in the arm.
She said she doesn’t remember stabbing Jawine Evans in the neck. He died from his injuries.
While she claims her actions were in self-defense, prosecutors say her actions after the incident show she knew what she did was wrong.