Christmas Eve Stabber Arrested; Family Says She "Feared for Her Life," Cops Disagree

There appears still to be a divergence of opinion on that 16-year-old girl who stabbed Thomas Winston on Christmas Eve outside the 21st-Queensbridge subway station. Circumstances made the attack seem eminently justified; Winston, with many priors, traveled with a group of other young men, the girl; Cyan Brown was thought to be alone; molestation was charged.

But Brown is now charged with first-degree manslaughter, and police appear not to accept the original portrayal of events.

The Daily News says, "she's no victim, after all," and recounts the police version, which is that Winston quarreled with a male friend with whom Brown appears to have been walking over a bumping; Brown is said to have become "mouthy," and to have contributed to the escalating argument with her knife. After this, cops say, she was chased by several people, giving witnesses a distorted view of events.

Relatives of Winston in his old hometown of Utica say "he wasn't perfect, but he was striving to do better in his life." Winston, who had been living in a shelter, was on his way to visit his 10-month-old daughter on Christmas Eve. Brown's family, conversely, maintain that the girl "feared for her life" in the incident and was thus justified.

Brown's lawyers express confidence that she will be exonerated at trial.