Woman admits stabbing on-and-off-again boyfriend
A homeless woman admitted fatally stabbing her on-and-off-again boyfriend last year with a kitchen knife, Suffolk County prosecutors said.
Charlene Blackshear, 51, pleaded guilty Wednesday to first-degree manslaughter and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 1 to 18 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision, officials said.
“This is a domestic incident that needlessly escalated into extreme violence,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney. “The defendant in this case took full responsibility and now faces extensive prison time as a result of her actions.”
Christopher Gioe, Blackshear's Hauppauge-based defense attorney, said his client took responsibility for the crime.
"My client is extremely remorseful about what happened," Gioe said. "She did not want to go forward with any type of trial. She admitted her complicity in this case … I know she was very sorry about these actions and the events that took place."
Blackshear stabbed her boyfriend, Antonio Rice, 56, in the upper torso inside his Second Avenue apartment in Brentwood during the morning of June 10, 2021, according to court filings and statements by the defendant.
Rice was pronounced dead at a hospital after officers responded to a 911 call, police said. Blackshear was arrested a short distance away after she called another individual asking for a ride, authorities said.
The murder weapon was found in the kitchen sink of the apartment after it had been washed by Blackshear, prosecutors said.
Authorities said there were several eyewitnesses in the apartment when the stabbing took place and that Blackshear told investigators in a videotaped interview that she had stabbed the victim in self-defense.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
