A man stabbed to death on a train in New York was fighting with another passenger shortly before the fatal altercation, police said Friday.
“It was a completely unprovoked attack,” said Kenneth Hartman, a district attorney’s assistant in Brooklyn.
The suspect, 23-year-old Kwame J. Jenkins, was held without bail during his arraignment Friday in Brooklyn criminal court. Authorities said Jenkins and the victim were on a southbound J train headed to Brooklyn Thursday night when the alleged attack began.
What led to the violence is unclear. Police said neither the victim nor the suspect has a criminal record.
Jenkins, who stands about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs about 160 pounds, was wearing black jeans, a red hooded sweatshirt and Nike Air Jordan shoes, police said. He was armed with a silver semi-automatic handgun, the New York Police Department said.
The victim was identified as Talibah Rowe, 36, a native of Jamaica, Jamaica, according to the Baltimore Sun. Rowe worked as a deputy chief chef for the New York City Department of Correction and had been visiting friends in Brooklyn, the paper reported.
She was wearing black, jeans and a shirt, according to police.
The woman was taken to Brookdale Hospital where she was pronounced dead, the New York Daily News reported.