Woman charged for stabbing trans man who offered her a seat claims self defence
The woman charged with a hate crime after stabbing a trans man who offered her a seat on the subway has claimed self-defence.
30-year-old Stephanie Pazmino reportedly said she didn’t want to sit next to a black person when Ijan DaVonte Jarrett, who is a black, transgender man, offered her a seat on the New York Subway on Christmas evening.
Appearing in court on Tuesday (December 27) Pazmino’s lawyer Elsie Chandler told Manhattan Criminal Court she only stabbed Mr Jarrett because he “tried to take out her eyes with his nails and fingers”.
Ms Chandler pointed out a mark on Pazmino’s face and added that she had only acted in self-defence at “Christmas time where lots of people lose their tempers”.
Judge Ushir Pandit-Durant adjourned the case and set Pazmino’s bail at $4,000 ($7,500 bond).
Speaking to the New York Daily News, Mr Jarrett said he was heading home when he offered his seat to Pazmino.
“I got up anyway and said to her that she didn’t have to sit next to me,” he said.
“I took a seat across from her and just forgot all about it.”
The 44-year-old hairdresser added that when Pazmino got up to leave she began to attack him.
He thought he was being punched before realising he was actually being stabbed.
“I ran to the ticket booth to ask the attendant to call the police, she stated that she did, and that I should sit down,” Mr Jarrett said.
“And I passed out after that.”
Police reported that Pazmino used a two-inch knife to stab the victim in the arm and slash his face.
Sources added that she had been charged with assault as a hate crime, reckless endangerment and weapons possession.
A recent study found 40 percent of trans people have attempted suicide with many claiming acceptance in society a major factor.
On Christmas Eve, PinkNews reported that the mother of a man who beat a trans woman to death claimed it was because she was “living in sin”.
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