Nikeya Barker, 44, was charged with Murder in the Second Degree for fatally stabbing her former love interest, Shurvell Rush, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney announced.
Suffolk County Police first responded to Railroad Plaza on May 3rd at approximately 6:46 p.m. There, they discovered the body of Rush, 45, of Central Islip. He had a single stab wound protruding from his chest.
Rush was transported to South Shore University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
Surveillance footage from nearby businesses retrieved amidst the subsequent investigation depicts what appears to be Barker, with a large knife in hand as she descended upon her purported would-be victim into the Railroad Plaza parking lot.
That same knife—bloody when recovered at the crime scene—was discarded into a patch of bushes, as the footage demonstrates. The defendant allegedly confronted Rush at Bay Shore’s Long Island Rail Road terminal about an incident that occurred during their prior relationship. The stabbing reportedly took place after Barker followed her ex-partner to the complex of townhouses adjacent to the station.
Barker surrendered to the Suffolk County Police Department’s Homicide Squad on May 6th. She was arraigned before Acting County Court Judge James McDonaugh on May 19th, and is due back in court on July 2nd.
If convicted, Barker faces 25 years to life imprisonment.
“This case represents a disturbing instance of interpersonal violence that ended in tragedy,” said DA Tierney. “We will prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law and seek justice for the victim.”