New Yorkers have come together to raise thousands of dollars to cover the funeral costs of the 19-year-old woman stabbed to death outside a Park Slope bodega on Sunday.
Samyia Spain was fatally stabbed and her twin sister injured outside of Natural Plus deli at around 1:30 a.m. on March 17 by a man whose advances they had rejected, according to police.
The NYPD later identified 20-year-old Veo Kelly as a person of interest in the double stabbing. He reportedly turned himself in to police custody on Friday, where he was charged with murder, assault, and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
“Samyia Spain was bright-eyed and ready for the world. She was loving, caring and kind,” Samiya’s sister, Danasha Goodson, wrote on the online fundraising page. “The life of the party, a star in the making, a leader. She had so much more to do in this world, so much more to offer.”
According to Goodson, the sisters had hosted a game night for their friends that evening and went to their local bodega for snacks, where they met two “aggressive” men who wanted the women’s contact information.
“After being rejected by Samyia and berated by her friends, the young men turned violent,” she said.
Samyia, of Nevins Street in Gowanus, suffered a stab wound to her chest, while her sister was stabbed in the arm, police reported. EMS rushed both victims to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where Samiya was pronounced dead a short time later.
Samiya’s friends and family launched a GoFundMe page on Wednesday to cover the costs of her memorial service — which has since amassed over $13,000 in donations.
“Samyia lost her life protecting her sister. Samyia lost her life to senseless violence, to the fragile male ego, because violence against women has been normalized and condoned,” added Goodson. “Samyia deserves to be here, she deserves to be celebrated.”
Council Member Chi Ossé shared the fundraiser on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter), stressing that Samiya’s life was another stolen by “senseless and pervasive violence against Black women, which we all share the obligation to eradicate from our city and world.”
